Roosting Ecology and Behaviour of Small-footed Bats (Myotis ciliolabrum) and Presence of Bats in Winter in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta
Abstract
I studied roosting behaviours of western small-footed bats (Myotis ciliolabrum) in Dinosaur Provincial Park, a semi-arid badland region in Alberta. Individuals roosted solely in the prevalent erosion-holes within the park. Regardless of sex or reproductive condition, M. ciliolabrum exhibited low roost fidelity but high fidelity to coulees. Individuals selected roosts which were high off the ground with an internal microclimate significantly buffered from external conditions, with depth not affecting roost buffering capacity.
I also measured the effect of habitat on the echolocation calls for three Myotis species within the coulees and along tree edges. Myotis lucifugus and Myotis ciliolabrum significantly alter their calls between the two habitat types. Using local calls to construct a call library allowed me to determine that both M. ciliolabrum and M. evotis were present over winter. The higher proportion of M. evotis activity may be explained by gleaning insects during warmer periods.
Description
Keywords
Ecology
Citation
Findlay, S. (2017). Roosting Ecology and Behaviour of Small-footed Bats (Myotis ciliolabrum) and Presence of Bats in Winter in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27693