May 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 45

duction of fruits that support local economies, as well as diverse
animal populations. Bats are often considered " keystone species "
that are essential to some tropical and desert ecosystems. Without bats' pollination and seed-dispersing services, local ecosystems could gradually collapse, as plants fail to provide food and
cover for wildlife species near the base of the food chain.
Despite not being in a tropical or desert setting, bat species
found in North Carolina are a critical part of our native ecosystem. And, as in many parts of the world, our bat species face
challenges, not only from habitat loss but also to disease. The
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) indicates that: " Pesticides, persecution, and human disturbance of
hibernacula (winter habitat) and maternity colonies may have
contributed to this decline. Furthermore, an emergent fungal
disease, called white-nose syndrome (WNS), has killed more
than 5.7 million bats since its discovery in New York in 2006.
This disease spread to North Carolina in 2011, and continues
to spread to new states each winter. It is now found in 30 states.
" To determine bat distribution and hibernation sites in North Carolina, track the spread of WNS, and estimate population trends for
certain species, the NCWRC conducts monitoring across the state.
Through a variety of methods (including mist netting, trapping,
banding, acoustic recording, roost monitoring and radio telemetry), NCWRC biologists, in cooperation with several partners, have
surveyed and banded thousands of bats in North Carolina. All this
work helps to inform management. "
How MCPR Is Helping
MCPR, in support of this effort, teamed up with Dr. Han Li, a
post-doctoral fellow and research scientist at the University of North
Carolina - Greensboro, who studies bats and their sounds. As they
fly, bats make high-frequency sounds that they use as sonar. Those
sounds travel through the air until they bounce off an object and
return to the bat as an echo. Bats calculate the distance to the object
by processing the time required for the sound to return and, thus, determine the shape, size and texture of objects and its surroundings.
Essentially, bats create a digital picture of their environment
in their brain as they fly around. Each bat species has a specific
sonar " voice " or signal, so, by recording bat calls at night and
analyzing them with a computer and software, researchers can
determine which bat species live around Charlotte and their
geographic distribution in our area.
Beginning in the summer of 2016, the Natural Resources Section began collecting its first round of data, identifying the bats that
occur in Mecklenburg County. Staff used a series of Anabat SD2
echolocators and directional microphones in the nature preserve
to collect and record bat calls. Once collected, the sound files were
analyzed using a computer program, called Analook, which com-

pared the recorded bat pulses with a call library of known bat calls.
For four nights in July 2016, staff monitored bat calls at Reedy
Creek Nature Preserve and was surprised to learn that there were
seven distinct species, including the Big Brown Bat, Evening Bat,
Hoary Bat, Red Bat, Silver-haired Bat and Tricolored Bat and
that the preserve is one of the northernmost roosting locations
for the Mexican Freetail Bat. Then, in the spring of 2017, our recorders picked up an eighth species in Reedy Creek, the federally
endangered Gray Bat. This recording is quite unusual as the Gray
Bat is a cave-dwelling species from the Midwest. Now we have a
real mystery on our hands - isn't science cool?!
In addition to trying to learn more about the possible occurrence of the Gray Bat, our next major effort is to see what
bat species exist in our urban core. As we move to the Uptown
Charlotte area, we're hoping to learn if bats use highly urbanized habitat different from natural habitat and if we will see the
same species. Stay tuned to this frequency for more information
on the bats of Mecklenburg County!
Chris Matthews is the Division Director, Nature Preserves and Natural
Resources for Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation (christopher.matthews@
mecklenburgcountync.gov).

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