Data for: Predicting habitat suitability for Townsend’s big-eared bats across California in relation to climate change

Aim: Effective management decisions depend on knowledge of species distribution and habitat use. Maps generated from species distribution models are important in predicting previously unknown occurrences of protected species. However, if populations are seasonally dynamic or locally adapted, failing to consider population level differences could lead to erroneous determinations of occurrence probability and ineffective management. The study goal was to model the distribution of a species of special concern, Townsend’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii), in California. We incorporate seasonal and spatial differences to estimate the distribution under current and future climate conditions.
Methods: We built species distribution models using all records from statewide roost surveys and by subsetting data to seasonal colonies, representing different phenological stages, and to Environmental Protection Agency Level III Ecoregions to understand how environmental needs vary based on thes..., Study area and survey data
The study area covers the U.S. state of California, which has steep environmental gradients that support an array of species (Dobrowski et al. 2011). Because California is ecologically diverse, with regions ranging from forested mountain ranges to deserts, we examined local environmental needs by modeling at both the state-wide and ecoregion scale, using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Level III ecoregion designations and there are thirteen Level III ecoregions in California (Table S1.1) (Griffith et al. 2016).
Species occurrence data used in this study were from a statewide survey of C. townsendii in California conducted by Harris et al. (2019). Briefly, methods included field surveys from 2014-2017 following a modified bat survey protocol to create a stratified random sampling scheme. Corynorhinus townsendii presence at roost sites was based on visual bat sightings. From these survey efforts, we have visual occurrence data for 65 maternity roosts,..., We cannot provide original bat occurrence points used in analyses in the interest of protecting sensitive colony locations from disturbance or vandalism.