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2 December 2014 Roost-Site Selection and Movements of Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifugus) in Southwestern Yukon
Lea A Randall
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Abstract

Diurnal roost sites are a critical resource for bats. Despite their importance, we know little about the roosting habits of Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifugus) in the boreal forest of northwestern Canada and Alaska. To locate diurnal roost sites and determine minimum distances to foraging areas, we radio-tagged 10 Little Brown Myotis (7 adult females, 3 adult males) in the boreal forest of southwestern Yukon, Canada. All of the females roosted in a single building, with 1 using a bat house for 2 nights. In contrast, the males used a variety of roost sites, including buildings, rock cliffs, and trees, and switched roosts periodically. We observed sex-biased movements, with adult males traveling a significantly shorter distance between their diurnal roost sites and a key foraging area than adult females. Males tended to roost near a key foraging area, whereas radio-tagged females flew >5 km from their diurnal roosts to forage. Our data are some of the first obtained via radio-telemetry for Little Brown Myotis in the boreal forest and confirm that the roosting behavior of the sexes is different. That all of the radio-tagged females primarily used 1 roost site in town and flew relatively far to a key foraging area suggests that these critical resources may be somewhat limiting in our study area.

Lea A Randall "Roost-Site Selection and Movements of Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifugus) in Southwestern Yukon," Northwestern Naturalist 95(3), 312-317, (2 December 2014). https://doi.org/10.1898/13-02.1
Received: 25 February 2013; Accepted: 24 April 2013; Published: 2 December 2014
KEYWORDS
boreal forest
foraging distances
Little Brown Myotis
Myotis lucifugus
radio-telemetry
roost sites
Yukon
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