Habitat destruction and degradation is one of the leading causes of bat population declines. In California, population growth has caused a loss of over 90% of the state’s wetlands while 95% of the riparian habitats of San Joaquin Valley have been converted to agriculture and development. Although some environmental laws help conserve bat habitat, there’s a need to restore lands to provide all aspects of bats’ habitat requirements. Each species of bat has a complex life history, and every aspect of its natural history and life cycle needs to be fully functioning. While most bat species do not typically use bat houses, many environmental documents require only bat houses to mitigate for lost bat habitat. Only rarely do restoration projects (such as for Hawaiian hoary bat and the pallid bat) attempt to fully restore bat habitat. Riparian and wetland habitat restoration is a huge step in the right direction to restore bat habitat; but ideally, habitat restoration for bats should be species specific, address every aspect of the target species’ habitat needs year round as appropriate, and should include long-term monitoring so that bat ecologists can learn from experiences.

Dr. Dave Johnston is an Adjunct Associate Wildlife Ecologist and Bat Biologist at H. T. Harvey & Associates. Dave is a vertebrate ecologist who specializes in the foraging ecology and conservation biology of bats. He has studied bats for over 30 years and for the past 15 years he has focused on renewable energy and transportation projects in California and Hawaii. He also has ongoing research projects involving the foraging ecology of bats in California, Mexico, Belize, and more recently, in Costa Rica. Dave is a hobby winemaker who started making wine as a student at CalPoly, San Luis Obispo.