An unprecedented global increase in wildfires has disrupted ecosystems and has displaced wildlife through habitat and resource loss. Despite this, recent studies have suggested that some bats, specifically the California myotis (Myotis californicus), take advantage of a post-fire landscape's increased foraging and roosting opportunities. To understand how bats adapt to living in a post-fire landscape, we used telemetry to radio-track bats to roosts within the Mosquito fire burn scar in Tahoe National Forest, June-August 2024. Roost selection was quantified as a function of burn severity as well as tree characteristics. Burn severity is defined by the Rapid Assessment of Vegetation After-Fire Index (RAVF). Additionally, temperature-sensitive dataloggers were placed in an around roost trees to thermally profile the preferred microclimate of M. californicus to understand how roost microclimate affects roost selection. I hypothesize that roost selection of the California myotis is influenced by roost microclimate, which can be altered by fire. Results from this study will help inform wildlife managers how to manage landscape for more optimal roosting habitat of the California myotis, and will further elucidate the complex relationship between bats and wildlife in California.

Katelyn Miller is pursuing an M.S. in Biology at California State University Sacramento. Her research focuses on bats roost preference and selection. She has an Honors BS from Southern Connecticut State University for preliminary research on how diet affects thermoregulation in neotropical bats. She has also received a fellowship from the Agricultural Research Institute for current work in the Tahoe National Forest researching how bats choose their day roosts in a post-fire landscape. In the future she aims to continue her education by pursuing a Ph.D. in ecology with the intent of becoming a professor in mammalogy.