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Bats are misunderstood and feared by most people (Hoffman, 1996). It is important to educated member of the community on the essential role that bats play in the ecosystem and how they are beneficial to humans (Hoffman, 1996). Learning about how these bats consume a large amount of night flying insects, control the crop pests, and are becoming endangered can decrease the number of of people who fear and misunderstand bats.

Scientists are also working on further understanding bats for conservation purposes.

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Amelon, S. K., Dalton, D. C., Millspaugh, J. J., & Wolf, S. A. (2009). Radiotelemetry.Retrieved from United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Northern Research Station: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2009/nrs_2009_amelon_001.pdf

Bartonička, T., Jedlička, P., Čížek, M., Hlouša, O., Lučan, R., & Horáček, I. (2015, February 25). The BAARA (Biological AutomAted RAdiotracking) System: A New Approach in Ecological Field Studies. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116785

Bontadina, F., Scaravelli, D., Gloor, S., Hotz, T., & Beck, A. (2002). Radio-tracking bats: a short review with examples of a study in Italy. Atti 1° Convegno Italiano sui Chirotteri (Italien Bat Research Congress),, 163-173.

H. T. Harvey & Associates. (2015). Radio-tracking of the Hawaiian Hoary Bat: A strategy to increase our understanding of roosting and foraging ecology in winter and summer. SunEdison.

Holland, R. A., & Wikelski, M. (2009). Studying the Migratory Behavior of Individual Bats: Current Techniques and Future Directions. American Society of Mammalogists, 1324–1329.

Hofmann, Joyce. (1996, March 19). University of Illinois. Retrieved from https://www.inhs.illinois.edu/resources/inhsreports/mar-apr96/bats

O'Mara, M. T., Wikelski, M., & Dechmann, D. K. (2014, April 09). 50 years of bat tracking: Device attachment and future directions. Retrieved from https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12172

Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. (2018, July 02). What is Radio Telemetry? Retrieved from https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/what-radio-telemetry

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Radiotracking can be very demanding and time consuming (Bontadina, Scaravelli, Gloor, Hotz, & Beck, 2002). A current method is BAARA, (Biological AutomaAted Radiotracking) System, which is a network of automated tracking stations within an area (Bartonička et al., 2015). This system reads the signals from the transmitters and estimates the distance of the animal and records their position (Bartonička et al., 2015).

This system is a way the conservationists can mitigate the demands and costs of radiotracking (Bartonička et al., 2015). With the addition of transmitters getting smaller and weigh less more knowledge can be gained about bat species and other small animals. Although learning about these species and developing effective strategies to help mitigate their extinction it should not be at the expensive of hurting a few individuals. This means that more studies should also be conducted on the impact of the collars and adhesive transmitters impact on bats (O'Mara, Wikelski, & Dechmann, 2014).

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An example that shows how this technology will be currently used in Hawaii 

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An example that shows how this technology will be currently used in Hawaii 

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A recent study was done in Hawaii on the Hawaiian hoary bat in efforts to develop effective mitigation strategies and recovery plans (H. T. Harvey & Associates, 2015). Their study involved learning about the bat’s ecology consisting of seasonal movement, home range size and roosting, and mother-pup interactions (H.T. Harvey & Association, 2015). The radiotracking will continue to provide insight on bats moving from lowland areas in the summer to high-altitude areas in the winter (H. T. Harvey & Associates, 2015). The time the study was going the radiotracking would also provide information on the effect of El Niño which can help collect data on how climate change may impact species.

Originally it was thought that this species had gone extinct on Oahu or very low but H.T. Harvey & Association was able to radiotrack a lactating female  in U’koa wetland where bat activity is very low  (H. T. Harvey & Associates, 2015). Radiotracking allowed for new knowledge to be gained on this species breeding population on this island (H. T. Harvey & Associates, 2015).

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Due to the “small animal problem” a high number of small animals are not being tracked causing scientists to lack information needed for the conservation of endangered bat species (Bontadina, et al., 1999). The only type available that meets the size and weight rule is very high frequency (VHF) radiotracking  (Amelon, Dalton, Millspaugh, & Wolf, 2009).

A downfall to radiotracking is that radio transmitters are heavy due to the battery (Smithsonian, 2018). The bigger the battery the longer the battery life which allows more data to be collected. There are solar powered transmitter’s but it is unclear how beneficial they maybe since bats are nocturnal animals (Holland and Wikelski, 2009).

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Radio transmitters are inexpensive and usually costing less than $200 for one and come in a variety of sizes as well as weights (Smithsonian, 2018). There are radio transmitters that weigh 6.6 grams but have a short battery life and data can only be collected for a few weeks and have a signal that only travels about 0.6 miles (Smithsonian, 2018).

Radiotracking can provide information on the amount of time bats spend roosting and the location. Amelon et al. (2009) study showed that bats used the river as a flight path and information on information on day-roost for bats at night. The scientists concluded that in protection of foraging areas lies within about 4km around a colony  (Amelon, Dalton, Millspaugh, & Wolf, 2009).

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Radiotracking bat species for conservation purposes

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Radiotracking bat species for conservation purposes

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Unfortunately, many bats species are endangered (Holland and Wikelski, 2009). Radiotracking can provide insight on bat species migratory movement that have white nose syndrome (Holland and Wikelski, 2009). Information on bat behavior and why bat species have a high mortality at wind turbines (Holland and Wikelski, 2009).

The impact that pesticides, landscape, and loss of roosting areas are having on the population decline (Bontadina, et al., 1999). Furthermore, bats represent 1 of 2 vertebrates taxa that fly, have wide-ranging movements, and move rapidly (Holland and Wikelski, 2009).

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Why is it so challenging to study the behavior of bats? 

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Why is it so challenging to study the behavior of bats? 

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This is known as the “small animal problem” (Holland and Wikelski, 2009). The rule for usage of transmitters weight is that it should not exceed 5% of the animal’s body mass (Holland and Wikelski, 2009). When putting a transmitter on the bats, it is important that the transmitter has little impact on the behavior of the animal such as flight performance, maneuverability, and catching success (Bontadina, et al., 1999).  The tracking period for bats can be impacted by how long the adhesive holds the transmitter, the amount of chewing on the transmitter, or the molt condition  (Amelon, Dalton, Millspaugh, & Wolf, 2009).

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Continuation of Collar vs Adhesive Radiotransmitter

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Continuation of Collar vs Adhesive Radiotransmitter

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The medical glue is nontoxic and is scraped off by the bat after a few days (Bontadina, et al., 1999).

Image 2: A radio transmitters being attached with adhesive to an Indiana Bat in Illinois. These species can weigh from 4.5 – 9.5 grams.
Retrieved from https://www.inhs.illinois.edu/resources/inhsreports/mar-apr96/bats

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The collar can have a small component that is easily degraded so that it can fall off yet it lasts longer than adhesive (O’Mara, Wikelski & Dechmann, 2014).

Image 1: Demonstrates attachment of a radio transmitter on a Nyctalus noctula that can weigh around 0.98 oz. Retrieved from https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12172

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Radiotracking consists of three parts: a radio transmitter, a radio antenna, and a radio receiver (Smithsonian, 2018).

1) Bats wear the transmitter as a collar or on the back of the bat with medical glue which then sends the radio signal (Bontadina, et al., 1999).

2) The radio antenna is then used to pick up the radio signal by a scientist, vehicle, or aircraft (Holland and Wikelski, 2009).

3) The receiver will beep louder as the receiver gets closer to the bat (Smithsonian, 2018).

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Radiotracking is a tool used to further understand animal behavior, ecology, and for conservation (Amelon, Dalton, Millspaugh, & Wolf, 2009). Radiotracking has been used to study migration movement patterns of birds, bats, and insects as a whole (Holland and Wikelski, 2009). However, little information has been collected at an individual level, specifically for bats (Holland and Wikelski, 2009).