Summary

Description

The SheldonHart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex Complex occupies close to 1 million acres in the Great Basin. In 2009 and 2010, the Complex initiated bat inventory and monitoring surveys as part of the Oregon Bat Grid effort to include the two refuges within the Complex: Hart Mountain Refuge in southeast Oregon and Sheldon Refuge in northwest Nevada. These were the first such attempts to inventory bat species occurrence in this area. Methods included both mistnetting and acoustic sampling, and to date, 15 species of bats have been documented. Following established Bat Grid protocols, we conducted acoustic sampling across the remainder of the two refuges and others to complete initial baseline inventory efforts. In addition, we conducted acoustic sampling late fall through early spring to detect overwintering bat species. There was no information on what species overwintered or the location of hibernacula andor winter roosts on many refuges, including the SheldonHart Mountain Refuge Complex. This project helps to direct search efforts to identify potential sites for future monitoring for Whitenose Syndrome.