In support of the Forest’s Management Plan, ESI completed bat surveys across three summers (2019 – 2021) on the Long Cane Ranger District of the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests in South Carolina.
Services included:
- Acoustic and mist net surveys during summer maternity season encompassing 59,000 acres and five different habitat types
- Targeted post-summer maternity season acoustic surveys
- Targeted acoustic surveys for migratory bats
- North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) stationary and mobile acoustic surveys
Efforts generated the first documentation of the southeastern (Myotis austroriparius) and Rafinesque’s big-eared (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) bats in the Piedmont ecoregion and multiple county records.