Bat population monitoring and white-nose syndrome surveillance in Pacific Northwest National Parks
The expansion of the bat fungal disease White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) to the Pacific Northwest is centered in western Washington. The USGS partners with the National Park Service on projects to understand bat distribution, activity, and disease spread in and around Washington’s National Parks.
The USGS scientists at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center's Olympic Field Station in Olympic National Park lead a large-scale bat monitoring and disease surveillance program in the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) of National Parks. This effort was started by the National Park Service in 2016 following the detection of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd; the causative agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats) in a little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) near Mount Rainier National Park in 2016.
USGS joined with the NPS to expand their bat disease surveillance and monitoring program to include acoustic monitoring in 2018. The USGS assumed the leadership role of the Pd/WNS surveillance program in 2023.
Today, under the leadership of the USGS, scientists have expanded efforts to understand fall bat activity patterns using Motus towers and telemetry. The NCCN parks and USGS continue to work collaboratively on research and monitoring goals for bats in the region.
WNS has caused serious declines in bat populations across North America, and the arrival of this disease in Washington prompted an immediate recognition of the need to increase understanding of baseline bat distribution and activity patterns alongside disease spread.
Disease surveillance - overall goals
- Detecting and monitoring Pd and WNS in bat colonies across the NCCN to provide information to park units on the status of their bat populations and inform potential management decisions
- Contributing to state and national efforts to document the geographic spread, species impacted, and how the disease progresses in bat populations over time.
Bat monitoring - overall goals
- Understanding seasonal habitat use and distribution patterns in the three large national parks before the arrival and extensive spread of Pd/WNS
- Understanding year-round phenology and activity at select locations in all NCCN parks before and as disease spreads
- Monitoring the size and dynamics of maternity/summer roosts at known locations across the NCCN over time.
Key projects
- Annual spring disease surveillance monitoring at select summer/maternity colonies to assess disease status, prevalence, and fungal load at NCCN parks over time.
- Acoustic monitoring of bats across seasonal, elevation, and precipitation gradients in the three large national parks – Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks (2019-2020)
- Year-round acoustic monitoring at select sites in all NCCN park units (2020-present); and (3) additional targeted research projects addressing fall-to-winter bat ecology and activity (2020- present).
3 Cool Ways USGS is Studying Bats in National Parks 3 Cool Ways USGS is Studying Bats in National Parks
The expansion of the bat fungal disease White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) to the Pacific Northwest is centered in western Washington. The USGS partners with the National Park Service on projects to understand bat distribution, activity, and disease spread in and around Washington’s National Parks.
The USGS scientists at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center's Olympic Field Station in Olympic National Park lead a large-scale bat monitoring and disease surveillance program in the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) of National Parks. This effort was started by the National Park Service in 2016 following the detection of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd; the causative agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats) in a little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) near Mount Rainier National Park in 2016.
USGS joined with the NPS to expand their bat disease surveillance and monitoring program to include acoustic monitoring in 2018. The USGS assumed the leadership role of the Pd/WNS surveillance program in 2023.
Today, under the leadership of the USGS, scientists have expanded efforts to understand fall bat activity patterns using Motus towers and telemetry. The NCCN parks and USGS continue to work collaboratively on research and monitoring goals for bats in the region.
WNS has caused serious declines in bat populations across North America, and the arrival of this disease in Washington prompted an immediate recognition of the need to increase understanding of baseline bat distribution and activity patterns alongside disease spread.
Disease surveillance - overall goals
- Detecting and monitoring Pd and WNS in bat colonies across the NCCN to provide information to park units on the status of their bat populations and inform potential management decisions
- Contributing to state and national efforts to document the geographic spread, species impacted, and how the disease progresses in bat populations over time.
Bat monitoring - overall goals
- Understanding seasonal habitat use and distribution patterns in the three large national parks before the arrival and extensive spread of Pd/WNS
- Understanding year-round phenology and activity at select locations in all NCCN parks before and as disease spreads
- Monitoring the size and dynamics of maternity/summer roosts at known locations across the NCCN over time.
Key projects
- Annual spring disease surveillance monitoring at select summer/maternity colonies to assess disease status, prevalence, and fungal load at NCCN parks over time.
- Acoustic monitoring of bats across seasonal, elevation, and precipitation gradients in the three large national parks – Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks (2019-2020)
- Year-round acoustic monitoring at select sites in all NCCN park units (2020-present); and (3) additional targeted research projects addressing fall-to-winter bat ecology and activity (2020- present).