Watershed Restoration Project Bat Monitoring

ForestNet Videocast: Watershed Restoration Project Bat Monitoring
Host: Gary C. Chancey, Wayne National Forest, Public Affairs Staff Officer
Guests: Katrina Schultes, Wildlife Biologist and Todd Weinkam, Biological Sciences Technician on the Wayne National Forest in southeastern Ohio. Enjoy Podcast#004


Watershed restoration activities on the Wayne National Forest in southeastern Ohio are aimed at finding solutions to problems created by coal mining in the late-1800s to mid-1900s. A primary goal is to improve water quality, while also addressing safety issues and wildlife habitat potential. An example of one problem the Wayne National Forest is attempting to address is Acid Mine Drainage (AMD).

It is a serious problem caused by water mixing with coal mine remnants to become acidic water laden with dissolved metals and sediment. After contamination, AMD flows out of underground mines and into streams and rivers, degrading water quality and devastating aquatic life.

The Wayne National Forest has undertaken several AMD source-control projects. The goal of these projects is to prevent surface water (the “source”) from flowing into underground mine complexes and becoming AMD. This is usually done by filling subsidences that capture stream water and other surface runoff. Mine openings have also been routinely closed as a safety precaution, since old mines are often mistaken for caves by the public. The mines are unstable and may be filled with poisonous gases, making them unsafe to enter.

Sometimes these activities conflict with the maintenance of underground habitat for bats. Five species of bats in Ohio, including the endangered Indiana bat, rely on caves or abandoned mines for critical fall and winter habitat for breeding and hibernation, respectively. Since southeast Ohio has few natural caves, bats exploit manmade underground spaces, such as abandoned coal mines.

During the fall breeding season, bats use the mines as stopovers during migration. They engage in a behavior called swarming, in which bats gather at night and fly in and out of mine openings, before they eventually stop inside to mate. Swarming encourages breeding between colonies and the healthy mixing of gene pools. During winter, bats also use some of the mines as hibernation sites.

Closing holes into the mines can eliminate suitable habitat, or entomb animals, if work proceeds when bats are present, and can also disrupt airflow which is an important component of a hibernation site.

Safety concerns prevent entry into abandoned coal mines to look for the presence of bats. Thus, U.S. Forest Service biologists survey mine openings for bat activity during the fall season when bats are actively flying in and out of openings. Biologists set nets or traps up in front of a mine opening and capture bats to see which species and how many might be using it. Information about each bat captured is written down on a datasheet, and then the bat is released.

Where bats are present, it is desirable to design watershed restoration projects, especially AMD source-control projects, so that the mine openings can be left open safely while meeting restoration goals. The Wayne National Forest has used several techniques to achieve these objectives. One way is to erect a bat-friendly gate across the opening, which allows movement of bats and air in and out but prevents people from going inside.

Another way is to reconstruct a stream channel to go past an existing mine opening, so that water stays on the surface and does not flow underground. After restoration work is completed, U.S. Forest Service employees return to the mine openings for more fall swarming surveys to monitor whether or not the work affects bat activity and to determine if the chosen techniques achieved the other restoration goals.

Close cooperation between U.S. Forest Service employees and the use of innovative ideas are required to mesh stream restoration, safety, and wildlife habitat conservation goals into successful watershed restoration projects.


Possible links to include:

Bat Conservation and Mining

Bat Conservation International

White-nose Syndrome

Enjoy Podcast#004