MAPPING BAT ACTIVITY THROUGH SOUND: ACOUSTIC MONITORING AND HEAT MAP ANALYSIS OF LESSER LONG-NOSED BAT VISITATION TO AGAVE PALMERI

Mallory L Davies; University of Arizona; mallorydavies@arizona.edu; Madilyne Von Rotz, Kathryn Stoner, Madilyne T Von Rotz

The lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) is a key migratory pollinator, traveling 1,200 km each spring along a "nectar corridor" of columnar cacti and agave species to give birth in northern Mexico and the southwestern U.S. However, climate change threatens to fragment this corridor, with agave habitat expected to decline significantly in the next 50 years, potentially disrupting bat migration. In New Mexico, bat arrival typically aligns with Palmer’s agave (Agave palmeri) blooming, but regional droughts have disturbed this synchrony, reducing flowering agave populations and creating mismatches between bat presence and agave availability. To investigate bat visitation, we monitored 15-20 flowering Agave palmeri plants annually within 50 km of the Big Hatchet roost in 2020, 2022, and 2023. AudioMoth acoustic recorders were deployed on fresh blooms, with weekly visits from May to October to track plant phenology and maintain devices. Acoustic files are being analyzed with Sonobat to identify species and visitation frequency, with results used to create heat maps of bat activity. These findings will guide future agave restoration efforts, potentially identifying foraging patterns of lesser long-nosed bats and informing conservation strategies to address climate-induced corridor fragmentation.

Poster Session