Dr. Joseph Johnson
Science News writes about research by Dr. Joseph Johnson in an article headlined “Bats in attics might be necessary for conservation.”
Johnson is Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Ohio University.
For the little brown bat — a small mouse-eared bat with glossy brown fur — a warm, dry place to roost is essential to the species’ survival. Reproductive females huddle their small furry bodies together to save thermal energy during maternity season (summer), forming “maternity colonies.” In the face of severe population losses across North America, summer access to an attic or other permanent sheltered structure, as opposed to just trees or rock crevices, is a huge benefit to these bats.
In a new study published in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecosphere, researchers with Ohio University, University of Kentucky, and the US National Park Service investigate and describe the conservation importance of buildings relative to natural, alternative roosts for little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in Yellowstone National Park.
Read the journal article Johnson co-authored, Buildings provide vital habitat for little brown myotis ( Myotis lucifugus ) in a high‐elevation landscape, in Ecosphere.
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