Bat Inventory at Petroglyph National Monument 2023 - Open Format Dataset

Petroglyph National Monument (PETR or Monument) is 7,212 acres and is located on the outskirts of the City of Albuquerque. Adjacent land is rapidly being developed leading to increased visitation with potential stress on natural resources. Among these resources are bats which geographically supports the highest species diversity in the United States. There is a current data gap with bat presence/absence in PETR and how visitor activities and establishing, maintaining, or closing trails could impact bat populations. Characterizing seasonal bat use will help support the Visitor Use Management Plan. We surveyed 10 sites with remote acoustic detectors for a total of 2,964 detector nights from October 2022- October 2023 within five focal resource management areas. Analytic data collecting and acoustic analysis followed established USFWS guidelines and protocols. We acoustically detected 21 species. We calculated nightly activity levels for each species (mean number of calls per night) and species diversity index at each sampling location. Overall bat annual temporal activity was highest in August. While acoustic surveys cannot determine number of individuals on the landscape or determine specific roosting locations, it demonstrated spatially what areas are being used by bats and how frequently in PETR. This data will prove to be a useful management tool for determining potential actions at each focal area of interest on the Monument. In general, to minimize potential negative impacts, avoid direct impacts to possible roosting areas or conduct visual survey prior to action and if possible, avoid times when bat use is highest.