Bat Occupancy Model Predictions for Colorado, acoustic data from 2016-2017

We analyzed detection/non-detection data from acoustic surveys of bat species in Colorado during the summers of 2016 and 2017. The goal of this analysis is to create species distribution maps estimating the probability of occupancy across the state for each species. We fit a community occupancy model using both years of data from all the available species. Spatially explicit covariates were included to explain heterogeneity in the probabilities of occupancy and nightly covariates were used to model detection. We also allowed for spatial patterns in the probability of occupancy for each species in order to account for the ranges of many species including only a portion of Colorado. This is also useful for explaining additional spatial variation in the probabilities of occupancy that are not captured with the available covariates. The results of this analysis are provided as a shapefile including the estimates and associated uncertainty in the occupancy predictions across the state.