This project will utilize acoustic data collected for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Bats and WNS project, which installed 8 acoustic stations in Plumas and Tehama counties in the spring of 2021. Three months after station installation, the Dixie Fire started. The Dixie Fire was the largest recorded wildfire in California to date and burned 374,000 hectares- 209,000 hectares of which are classified as high severity fire. Over the course of the wildfire’s spread, it encompassed three acoustic stations, came within 1 mile of four stations, and within 3 miles of one station. The objective of this study is to improve the understanding of how wildfires impact Northern California’s bat communities by analyzing acoustic data collected before, during, and after the fire. I predict that the 15 species of bat that have been detected thus far in the study region will vary in their responses to the disturbance caused by the wildfire, and that species detection will vary before, during, and after the fire. I aim to make assessments by individual species and foraging niche. I will also inspect how bat presence varies based on fire intensity, and how that presence changes as the landscape recovers over time.

Amelia Tauber is a scientific aide for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Bats and White-nose Syndrome Program and a Master's student at University of California, Sacramento. They have a Bachelor of Science from Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) in Wildlife Management and Conservation, and a Field Ecology Certificate from Sacramento City College. In their free time they love to spend time in nature, talking about bats, contributing to iNaturalist, and playing guitar.