Bat Diversity, Resource Use and Activity Patterns along a Sonoran Desert Riparian Corridor

Abstract

I quantified the bat assemblage associated with a Sonoran Desert riparian corridor at a wildland-urban interface using mist netting (2002-2005) to assess differential spatial and temporal resource use. My capture rate was high (17 species and 961 individuals) considering the aridity of the area; however, landscape complexity of this montane region undoubtedly contributes to foraging opportunities. I found that bats were distributed along the canyon when water was plentiful but their activity was concentrated at isolated pools during dry periods. I also found temporal variation in pool-use by the most frequently captured species. I conducted an acoustic study to measure bat-use between deciduous riparian and Sonoran desertscrub communities. I measured activity levels using number of acoustic call files. I found greater bat foraging in desertscrub and used a multidisciplinary approach to determine why bats might use the more arid environment. All capture data and supporting analyses are included in appendices.