INVENTORY OF BAT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AT HOPEWELL FURNACE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2006/054

James A. Hart
The Nature Conservancy|
Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program
208 Airport Drive Middletown, PA 17057

September 2006

U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Northeast Region
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Summary

Although the fauna of Pennsylvania has been studied extensively across much of the state, it has been investigated only recently in NPS properties such as the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (NHS). This study was initiated to predict and determine the bat communities within the park unit and to generate recommendations that would ensure that adequate habitat exists for these species without impacting the historical significance the site. To that end, five sites were surveyed over the course of ten nights for a total of 46 “netnights” and resulted in the capture of 18 bats of four species. The most common species captured were the northern long-eared (Myotis septentrionalis) and little brown (M. lucifugus) and big brown (Eptesicus fuscus) bats, comprising 88% of all bats captured and released.

Although no known maternity colonies were found, the preponderance of the northern long-eared bat may indicate that the habitat within Hopewell Furnace NHS supports a stable population of this species. Recommendations for continued research include more surveys to assess use of forests by tree species such as the red (Lasiurus borealis) and hoary (Lasiurus cinereus) bats, spring and fall mist-netting for the silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), and continued monitoring of possible maternity sites. Recommendations also include the creation of artificial roost sites for bats in areas where the historical significance of the parks will not be impaired.

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