Date of Award
3-24-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Biology, MS
First Advisor
Thomas Risch
Committee Members
Anna Doty; Lorin Neuman-Lee
Call Number
LD 251 .A566t 2020 S65
Abstract
Rafinesque’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) are suffering habitat loss due to deforestation of bottomland hardwoods which an increase in agriculture forces maternity colonies to roost in anthropogenic structures. In Arkansas I explore how bats from maternity colonies in anthropogenic structures use torpor and how torpor is affected by chronic stress and ectoparasites. During June- August of 2018-2019, I surveyed a maternity colony inside a barn. Captured bats were tagged with temperature-sensitive transmitters and tracked to roost trees and the barn daily confirming day roosts. Using Lotek data loggers, data from transmitters were collected as skin temperature and compared to ambient temperature. One bat used torpor of the lactating (n=11) and post-lactating (n=8) bats captured in 2019. Blood and bat bugs (Cimex adjunctus) were collected to measure chronic stress. Of the samples analyzed from lactating (n=8) and post-lactating (n=5) bats, the neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio was unaffected by body condition or ectoparasites.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Spitz, Benjamin N., "Ecological Physiology of Rafinesque’s Big-Eared Bats (Corynorhinus Rafinesquii) Roosting in An Anthropogenic Structure in Arkansas" (2021). Student Theses and Dissertations. 345.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/345
