annual report - The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund

TASMANIAN LONG-EARED BAT
nyctophilus sherrini
Data Deficient
Tasmania, Australia
$15,000
ANNUAL REPORT 2010 PAGE 70
Red List Justification
This species is listed as Data Deficient
because there are not enough data on its
population size, trends, or distribution to
assess the species.
TASMANIAN LONG-EARED BAT
nyctophilus sherrini
A volunteer uses radio-telemetry to track a bat
back to its roost.
ThE FUND’S EARLy SUPPORT ALLOWED US TO PURChASE
BAT DETECTORS (SOUND RECORDERS) ThAT WE USED TO
RECORD ThE REFERENCE CALLS OF TASMANIAN LONG-
EARED BATS AND OThER TASMANIAN BAT SPECIES TO
CREATE A BAT CALL IDENTIFICATION kEy. WE ThEN USED
ThESE BAT DETECTORS TO REMOTELy MONITOR BATS
By RECORDING ThEIR CALLS AND IDENTIFyING ThE
RECORDED CALLS USING ThE BAT CALL IDENTIFICATION
kEy. ThIS ALLOWED US TO COLLECT IMPORTANT
INFORMATION ON BAT FORAGING, SOCIALISING AND
COMMUTING IN AREAS WITh VARyING DEGREES OF
FOREST AVAILABILITy.
PROJECT DETAILS:
The project studies the effect of forestry
on bat populations, as well as developing
a “bat call identification key” to aid
future studies on bat population and
demographics.
All Photos: Lisa Cawthen
RESULTS:
Over 60,000 bat calls, 13,000 reference
calls, and data from over 600 bat
individuals including information on bat
population demographics and breeding
cycle were collected. A strong association
was found between Tasmanian long-eared
bats and mature forest, with bats most
commonly found foraging in or along the
edge of mature forest habitat. Breeding
females roosting in tree hollows in groups
of 30 to 50 individuals within mature forest
were discovered. Early results suggest the
retention of mature forest is important for
the conservation of this species.
A captured Tasmanian long-eared bat in the hand
HOW THE MOHAMED
BIN ZAYED SPECIES
CONSERVATION FUND
HAS HELPED
“For the Tasmanian long-eared bat, a
species with few records prior to this
study, this work has been pivotal in
understanding the best methods for
monitoring this species and its associated
habitat. Furthermore, the bat detectors
we purchased will be used for long-term
monitoring of Tasmanian bats. Such an
initiative would not have been possible
without the Fund’s support. The Fund’s
early support of this project helped secure
further financial funding and in-kind
support to a total of $103,000.”
Lisa Cawthen
University of Tasmania
ANNUAL REPORT 2010 PAGE 71