Date Available

4-26-2017

Year of Publication

2017

Degree Name

Master of Science in Forest and Natural Resource Sciences (MSFNRS)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Agriculture, Food and Environment

Department/School/Program

Forestry

First Advisor

Dr. Michael J. Lacki

Abstract

Fifty-nine female and six male little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) were radio-tagged during the summers of 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 in Yellowstone National Park. The grand models for daily maximum skin temperature (F98,154 = 1.55, P = 0.007), daily minimum skin temperature (F98,154 = 1.33, P = 0.05), and daily variation in skin temperature (F98,154 = 1.56, P = 0.006) were significant across roost type and reproductive condition class for adult females. Roosts were classified into Types A (warmest roosts), B (roosts with largest daily temperature variance), and C (stable and cool roosts) depending on differences in mean maximum, minimum, and variance in temperatures per day (P < 0.001). A total of 347 torpor bouts were recorded from 38 females across the 2012 to 2015 summer seasons. Bats across different reproductive classes and roost types used torpor at different hours of the day. My research suggests that adult female little brown myotis at high elevations in the Park extensively use and rely on building structures for roosting sites during the reproductive season, whereas males used primarily natural roosts.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2017.114

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