Characteristics of feeding roosts of Virginia big-eared bats in Daniel Boone National Forest

Foraging ecology and summer habitat requirements remain unknown for the Virginia big-eared bat (Plecotus townsendii virginianus), an endangered subspecies of Townsend's big-eared bat. Thus, [the authors] examined use of cliff habitat by this bat in Daniel Boone National Forest (DBNF), Kentucky, in 1990-92 and measured 21 habitat variables in 241 potential roosts. Virginia big-eared bats used rock shelters with large entrances and deep passages as feeding roosts. Entrance height, entrance width, shelter depth, and shelter width explained most of the variation in the data. Discriminant function analysis of shelter use based on external (P = 0.0006) and internal (P = 0.0001) variables, separately, were significant. However, neither set of variables reliably classified shelters from an independent data set into feeding roosts or nonroosts. These data suggest that Virginia big-eared bats used a wide range of roost sites in DBNF, and that managers should protect cliff habitats, especially those with a high density of rock shelters.