A primary predator of flying insects, bats are crucial in controlling pest populations and providing other ecosystem services such as plant pollination and seed dispersal. Their populations are in decline due to habitat loss, increasing fire frequency, and climate change, all of which are exacerbated in natural areas adjacent to urban centers, such as those within the Ecological Health Assessment (EHA) Study Area, due to development, human-caused fires, and lack of vegetation to buffer extreme climate events.
Sixteen bat species have been documented in Orange County, more than two-thirds of which appear on the State of California Special Animals List. Because their populations are sensitive to disturbances, changes can indicate larger-scale issues with habitat loss, reliable nearby water sources for insect prey, and climate change effects.
Monitoring and data collection needs for the EHA Study Area include:
- Revisiting and expanding past survey sites for future monitoring.
- Undertaking landscape-wide passive acoustic monitoring to better assess bat diversity over space and time; this would include the reinstallation of acoustic meters to determine changes in species composition and diversity, particularly in response to increasing fire frequency.
