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.