SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF LONG-EARED, FRINGED, AND LONG-LEGGED MYOTIS ROOSTS IN PINON-JUNIPER WOODLANDS OF CENTRAL NEW MEXICO

摘要

Biologists and land managers require information on maternity roosting behavior, roost requirements, and landscape use to protect and enhance summer habitats for reproductive female bats. Data on roost behavior, selection, and spatial arrangement were collected for reproductive females of three bat species (long-eared myotis, fringed myotis, and long-legged myotis) from 1995-1997 in central New Mexico. Sixty-one reproductive female bats were radiotagged andtracked to their day roosts. Individual bats of each species used multiple roost structures. ArcView software was used to calculate distances, to identify centroids of roost areas, and to generate random points. For long-eared and fringed myotis, the roosts of a single bat were more tightly clustered (i.e. in closer proximity to one another) than roosts of individual long-legged myotis. Fringed and long-legged myotis roosted farther from water sites where they were captured than long-eared myotis, suggesting that these species forage farther from their roosts than long-eared myotis. All three species roosted closer to water than at random, suggesting that proximity to water may be an important factor in roost site selection in pinon-juniper woodlands.