Digital distribution maps of the bats of Texas

Of all the terrestrial mammals in Texas, bats (order Chiroptera) are the
most imperiled with 23 species (72% of species in the order that occur in
Texas) listed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as Species of
Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). Despite so many bat species categorized
as SGCN, we have only a course understanding of their distribution and
little quantitative understanding of the relative imperilment of species
stemming from a variety of anthropogenic threats. High resolution estimate
of distribution would aid much in directing conservation efforts in the
state and could identify species needing the greatest conservation
attention. Recent advances in ecological niche modeling allow construction
of digital distribution maps that are much more resolved and provide
estimates of habitat suitability that reflect the probability of
occurrence of species. We generated ecological niche models (ENM’s) for 34
species of bats occurring in the state of Texas. These data represent the
data we used to create these models and the results we obtained.