Bat sampling for a Masters project in the South Okanagan Valley, 2012

2012 – Bats – South Okanagan – Burnaby – SFU

Objectives Bat sampling was conducted on August 3rd and 4th, 2012 in the Oliver region in conjunction with a Masters’ research project. The research is assessing bat activity over vineyards in the south Okanagan Valley using a radar-acoustic system. Bat sampling is required to obtain a reference library of bat spectrograms for the equipment used. This reference library will be compared with spectrograms obtained from previous work in the area using other types of microphones and bat  etectors. Every bat detector and microphone are known to slightly shift the parameters of a bat call (personal communication with C. Lausen, and D Burles – BC bat biologists), and therefore it is important to note any changes in species parameters obtained with the equipment being used to positively identify the bat species recorded in the study.

Report link: 2012 Bat sampling for a Masters project in the south Okanagan Valley

For further details, see http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/siwe/search_process.do?sortOrder=0&projectID=4911.

Project Location Description The study area extends from Okanagan Falls to the north end of Osoyoos Lake; however bat sampling was conducted at two sites near Oliver BC (Figure 1). The sampling sites are located south of the town of Oliver, and are east of Blacksage Road. Site 1 was located in Mission Hill Family Estate Winery Vineyard #16, which is situated south of the Oliver dump. Sampling was conducted within the sage brush area east of the vineyard at the base of the cliffs. Site 2 was located in the Haynes Lease Ecological Reserve, which is situated southeast of the Burrowing Owl Winery. Site 2 is assessed from the parking lot at the top of Meadowlark Lane. Sampling was conducted along the base of the cliffs east of the parking lot.

Abstract Bat sampling was conducted on August 3rd and 4th, 2012 in the Oliver region in conjunction with a Masters’ research project. The research is assessing bat activity over vineyards in the south Okanagan Valley using a radar-acoustic system. Bat sampling is required to obtain a reference library of bat spectrograms for the equipment used. This reference library will be compared with spectrograms obtained from previous work in the area using other types of microphones and bat detectors. Every bat detector and microphone are known to slightly shift the parameters of a bat call (personal communication with C. Lausen, and D Burles – BC bat biologists), and therefore it is important to note any changes in species parameters obtained with the equipment being used to positively identify the bat species recorded in the study.