Occurrence of Bats in Highly Impacted Environments: The Lake Tahoe Basin

Abstract

past 150 y (Murphy and Knopp 2000) requiring the need for wildlife restoration. Many of the species that have declined use or inhabit ecologically important ecosystems such as marshes, bogs, fens, aspen groves, meadows, and riparian areas. Because marshes and meadows currently encompass a small proportion of the Basin and support a disproportionate number of species (Manley and others 2000; Schlesinger and Romsos 2000), there is interest in restoring these areas. Planning and evaluating restoration projects can be difficult for managers because they often lack information regarding historical conditions of areas in need of restoration. Bats are a good group of species to evaluate because they typically represent a relatively large portion of mammal species found in most marsh and meadow systems, including those within the Basin. Moreover, their diverse foraging and roosting requirements, plus the relative ease of acoustic sampling, make them good candidates for monitoring (Medellin and others 2000). Bats within the Basin are particularly important to monitor in the context of restoration because 3