Impact of Forest Management on Ozark Big-Eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii ingens) Prey and Foraging Ecology

Ozark big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii ingens) are an endangered species of bat found only in Oklahoma and Arkansas. I conducted a study on the impact of forest management treatments, such as prescribed fire and mechanical thinning, in White Rock Mountain Wildlife Management Area, which is home to a maternity colony of Ozark big-eared bats. My goal was to understand how prescribed fire and mechanical thinning influence Ozark big-eared bat prey and foraging, and therefore be able to provide management recommendations for the habitat of this endangered species. My results indicated that bat prey availability was influenced by forest structure, and was higher in areas that had higher percentages of woody and herbaceous groundcover and more open canopies. Prioritizing these areas through a combination of burning and thinning could be beneficial for bat prey and influence foraging ecology of Ozark big-eared bats. I found that bats were using burned areas less than expected and areas that had not been managed more than expected, but were using thinned areas in proportion to their availability. These results indicate that forest management in this area is not having detrimental effects to bat foraging. I conducted a Hot Spot Analysis to determine potential insect prey availability hot spots, but found that these hot spots were not influencing where bats were foraging. This study provided insight to how the forest has responded to disturbance in this area and information to use in further studies relating to foraging ecology and management for this bat colony