Bat Roost Habitat Enhancement in the Columbia Valley

Awarded to Wildlife Conservation Society Canada to protect and create roosting habitat for bats in the Columbia Valley, and to monitor their abundance and diversity.

PROPONENT: Wildlife Conservation Society Canada

DESCRIPTION: The Columbia Basin is home to a diverse bat community with 13 species, each exhibiting unique foraging behaviours and roosting needs. Bats are a critical component to a healthy ecosystem as the primary consumers of nocturnal insects. Over half the bat species in the Columbia Basin are considered at-risk of extinction, with five now listed or assessed as Endangered under the federal Species At Risk Act. As long-lived mammals, with lifespans of up to 40 years and high roost fidelity, securing optimal roosting habitat is critical for fostering resilience in bat populations. This project’s long-term goal is to mitigate habitat loss, strengthen population resilience, and monitor abundance and diversity of these nocturnal insectivores, which play a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and benefitting human societies. WCSC is proposing an all-encompassing approach to bat conservation in the Spillimacheen–Canal Flats area where they will use acoustic recording and guano (genetic) sampling to inventory and monitor bats and the habitats that we are restoring/enhancing.

To address the loss of natural roosts due to logging, WCSC has installed 20 artificial tree roosts since 2022 and propose to expand and monitor these efforts. Additionally, they will continue monitoring the NABat grid cell at the mouth of the Spillimacheen River to assess changes in bat populations, contributing to broader regional data collection. To better understand bat migration patterns, WCSC will also expand acoustic monitoring across seasons, with a focus on the endangered migratory tree-bat species identified by COSEWIC.

OBJECTIVE: Specific objectives of this project are to: 1) Enhance habitat and fill critical knowledge gaps regarding the use of anthropogenic-created tree roost structures by bats in BC through installation and monitoring of artificial roost structures; 2) Establish baseline species diversity and relative abundance using standardized NABat methods and enhanced long-term data collection; and 3) Establish baseline species diversity and relative abundance across multiple seasons to gain comprehensive understanding of bat migration patterns.

PHOTO: Cori Lausen/WCSC