An international research project in the northern reaches of the Columbia River is taking a hard look at the decline of keynote bat populations in a bid to help area ecosystems survive and thrive.
Efforts to preserve a population of northern myotis 鈥� an endangered bat species that used to be found throughout eastern B.C., but whose range has been contracting to the central Interior 鈥� are under way near Kinbasket Lake, a sprawing reservoir north of Revelstoke and Golden.
The Wildlife Conservation Society, a non-profit based in New York City but with offices across the globe, is participating in two projects near the lake to study and support northern myotis populations: on the south shore of the lake, researchers are planting fake bark to mimic the old-growth trees where the northern myotis roosts, and on the north side they are using radio detectors to determine how many of the bats are present in logged areas.
Northern myotis pups require a delicate balance of humidity and temperature to survive to adulthood, and their mothers will seek out roosts with the proper 鈥渕icroclimate,鈥� moving their pups to new roosts about every one and a half days, according to Dr. Cori Lausen, the Society鈥檚 director of bat conservation.
鈥淭hey only have one pup per year, and they鈥檙e extremely picky about what temperatures and humidity conditions they have for those pups,鈥� Lausen said.
The species鈥� precise needs also make them a bellwether for the rest of the ecosystem鈥檚 health 鈥� if there are enough resources for the northern myotis to survive, it鈥檚 a pretty safe bet that other species in the area are being supported, too.
鈥淭hey need to get everything they need in that forest: places to roost, places to feed, the ability to move around and get the right microclimates every day. I always think of it as the Goldilocks approach,鈥� Lausen said. 鈥淚f you can keep that species on the landscape, then it means you鈥檙e keeping these intact pieces of forest on the landscape. And that鈥檚 going to allow you to have a lot of other species as well.鈥�
And when bat populations thrive, they provide natural pest control that helps the rest of the forest thrive 鈥� not to mention saving farmers and the Province thousands of dollars on pesticides and biocides, Lausen said.
鈥淲ithout bats, things are thrown off-balance and we end up having to respond. In our forests in B.C., that response is through biocides,鈥� she continued. 鈥淪omething a lot of people may not know is that biocides are being sprayed all over this province to manage the forest. It鈥檚 because of pest outbreaks, especially in these young forests where there鈥檚 really no bats being reported because the trees are too young.鈥�
That鈥檚 why Lausen and her team are working to understand what the northern myotis needs to survive in areas that have been logged, and if artificial old-growth bark can make a suitable replacement for the real deal.
Logging may not be an automatic death sentence to bat populations, Lausen says, but it needs to stay within the limits of what northern myotis colonies can sustain. One of the project鈥檚 goals is to identify those limits.
鈥淭he part we want to understand is, can we keep this species on the landscape and still have timber harvest?鈥� She said. 鈥淲e think yes, but there鈥檚 got to be this critical mass of the size of the [old-growth] patch, and interconnectedness of patches, to allow the species to reproduce.鈥�
Reproduction is the key word 鈥� the northern myotis, like other bat species, can live for decades, even after their habitat has been disturbed by logging, according to Lausen. What matters for the survival of a population is whether individuals are reproducing, and if they have enough habitat for their pups to survive to adulthood.
It鈥檚 still unclear if the northern myotis population near the Kinbasket is reproductive, Lausen says.
鈥淭here鈥檚 these tiny little old-growth patches that have been left after the timber harvest,鈥� Lausen said of the Kinbasket. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what got us thinking, 鈥榃ow, how small can a patch be? Can they still have young in these patches?鈥欌��
鈥淎re we watching the last of this population?鈥�
Misplaced conservation
When it comes to bat conservation, Lausen worries the B.C. government is missing the forest for the trees. She pointed to the province鈥檚 suggestion that Kootenay-area loggers leave one old-growth tree in a patch for the northern myotis to use, which she says is insufficient.
鈥淚t鈥檚 misplaced conservation. If you save a tree for a bat, you really haven鈥檛 saved any bat habitat,鈥� Lausen said.
According to Lausen, in 2018 the Ministry of Forests wrote a document outlining the best management practices for bats, to give foresters guidance on how to leave some bat habitat intact. The document was never released, but Lausen hopes research on B.C.鈥檚 northern myotis populations could push the Province to take bat conservation seriously.
In Lausen鈥檚 experience, grassroots conservation efforts can be more efficient than waiting for conservation policies to work their way through the bureaucratic maze of the provincial and federal governments. She said in the past, she has spoken with loggers and explained the importance of keeping bat habitats intact, and they鈥檙e often receptive. She added that discussing conservation needs with First Nations can be effective as well.
鈥淲e start locally to try to get conservation happening on the ground because we know everything else 鈥� publication, policy, practice, all those changes 鈥� they are going to be years down the road.鈥�
In that vein, Lausen suggests that people interested in promoting bat conservation join their local community forest.
鈥淟ocals helping to make decisions about forests, trying to keep these intact patches of old and mature forests 鈥� it鈥檚 increasingly important,鈥� Lausen said.
The Wildlife Conservation Society accepts donations, and people can direct their donation specifically to the bat program or to any of their other programs, she added.
Most importantly, people need to be aware of the threats facing bats, and the consequences of losing these vital animals, Lausen said.
鈥淲e depend on bats,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too late in some areas, but it鈥檚 not in most areas. We can still get in there and try to keep them reproducing.鈥�
