Bat Acoustic Monitoring at Mount Rushmore National Memorial

The tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) is a new detection for Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

NPS

Overview

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a 1,278-acre park in the center of the Black Hills in South Dakota established to protect the faces of four presidents carved on the mountainside. Granite outcroppings and the old growth ponderosa pine forest that surrounds the mountain may provide good bat roosting habitat.

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network monitors bats to detect long-term trends and to get early warning of undesirable changes in bat populations at the park. A fungal disease called white-nose syndrome is spreading quickly, threatening bat populations in North America. First documented in a New York cave in 2006, this disease is associated with more than seven million bat deaths. It spreads primarily from bat to bat and humans might be spreading the disease by carrying nearly invisible fungal spores on their shoes and clothing from one cave to another. Bat monitoring helps us understand changes occurring with the spread of this devastating disease.

Acoustic Monitoring

Ten acoustic recording stations were established in 2015 at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Acoustic recorders detect the unique ultrasonic calls bats use for echolocation. There were 44,796 bat call recordings from stations across all survey nights from 2015 to 2017. The data were analyzed through specialized software programs that make preliminary identifications of the bat species based on individual call characteristics, such as frequency and shape. Some bat species make calls that are similar to other species, which is why researchers with special expertise review the calls and make the final species determinations.

An acoustic recording station near the old beaver pond that is now a marsh at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

NPS

Bats at the Park (2015–2017)

Eleven bat species were detected at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Status is based on acoustic recording classifications in specialized software and researcher expertise.

Common Name	Scientific Name	2015–2017 Status
Townsend's big-eared bat	Corynorhinus townsendii	Probably Present
Big brown bat	Eptesicus fuscus	Present
Eastern red bat	Lasiurus borealis	Present
Hoary bat	Lasiurus cinereus	Present
Silver-haired bat	Lasionycteris noctivagans	Present
Western small-footed myotis	Myotis ciliolabrum	Present
Little brown bat	Myotis lucifugus	Present
Northern long-eared bat	Myotis septemtrionalis	Probably Present
Fringed myotis	Myotis thysanodes	Probably Present
Long-legged myotis	Myotis volans	Present
Tri-colored bat	Perimyotis subflavus	Probably Present

• Silver-haired and hoary bats were most commonly recorded, followed by big brown, eastern red, and little brown bats. Hear a silver-haired bat call!
• Eastern red, hoary, and tri-colored bats were new detections for the park. A very small number of the acoustic recordings were attributed to the threatened northern long-eared bat.
• The hoary bat, an open country flyer, was recorded most often in the open area around the visitor parking garages. The smaller and more maneuverable little brown bat was detected more often in forests.
• The station with the most bat recordings was at the old beaver pond in Starling Basin, a diverse site surrounded by forest with dead snags for roosting and a marsh where the beaver pond used to be. The clearing between the visitor parking garages had the next highest rate of bat activity, perhaps because bats forage on the insects attracted to the lights and warm surfaces.
• Preservation of the old growth ponderosa pine forest, including dead snags, will protect the diverse bat community at the park. Silver-haired bats, long-legged myotis, and northern long-eared bats are particularly reliant on high densities of snags.

Little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have been particularly hard hit by white-nose syndrome, but we have not yet detected the disease on any bats at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Continued monitoring will help protect the park's bat populations.

USFWS/Marvin Moriarty

White-nose Syndrome

White-nose syndrome has not yet been detected at the park, but the fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) that causes it was detected in 2017 on bats at nearby Badlands National Park. See a map of white-nose syndrome in national parks and learn more about how you can help prevent the spread of this fungus. Continued monitoring, and park staff and visitor observations, will help us protect the bat communities that live and forage in the park.

For More Information

Dan Licht, Midwest Region Wildlife Biologist
Protocol Contact: Northern Great Plains Network

Summary created by Tani Hubbard, updated in 2019