Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Whitaker, John O.

Abstract

Twenty-four female Eastern red bats(Lasiurus borealis) were captured and tracked to foraging areas near the Indianapolis International Airport during the summers of 2003 and 2004 with full foraging data obtained on 13. A series of multi-azimuth(3-7) triangulations was used to estimate the location of each bat throughout the night.Euclidean distance analysis was used to examine habitat sue by L.borealis.These bats had smaller home ranges than previously noted as well as smaller homes ranges than other species at this location.They foraged over woodlands,newly planted tree fields,open water,park and pasture lands more than predicted by randomly generated points. They avoided highly urban areas such as commercial lands,gravel pits and transportation corridors more than predicted by randomly generated points.Four female L.borealis were tracked leaving the study site between 15 July and 15 August in 2003 and 2004.Simultaneously,signals were lost on four additional radio-tagged bats.Long-term capture rates of adult L.borealis were examined during 3 netting periods(15 May-15 June,15 June-15 July and 15 July-15 August) from 1998-1999,2002-2004.Nearly twice as many adult L.borealis were captured in the third round of netting compared to the previous two rounnds.Based on a comparison of bats radio-tracked leaving the study area with typical home rage sizes of L.borealis at this site, an increase in lost radio tags,and an increase in capture rates of adult female L.borealis during late summer,it appears that L.borealis begins migrating through the study area in late July.Telemetry data indicate their movement through central Indiana is from east tp west,instead of north to south as idicated in large-scale analyses.

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