Engaging citizens in disease surveillance and population monitoring - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Engaging citizens in disease surveillance and population monitoring

The BC Community Bat Program’s Citizen Science Initiatives

Leigh Anne Isaac and Mandy Kellner BC Community Bat Program info@bcbats.ca / www.bcbats.ca

White-nose syndrome

• Devastating fungal disease
• 3 bat species Endangered in Canada to-date
• 2016 – WNS made an unexpected jump to

western North America

Bats are difficult

• Difficult to locate, survey, monitor
• Nocturnal – so we don’t see them
• Flying – no tracks to survey
• Ultrasonic frequencies for echolocation - we generally don’t

hear them

• Secretive - often roost in tight inaccessible spaces (soffits, roof

flashing)

• Similar-looking - species are often indistinguishable even to bat

biologists

• BC bats – do not hibernate in large, easy to count caves
• How to do disease surveillance? How to monitor

populations?

A network of regional bat projects across BC Four approaches to promote bat conservation:

• 1. Detection and protection of bat roosts in anthropogenic structures

through a public education, targeted information solicitation and reporting program called “Got Bats?”

• 2. Education to counter negative attitudes towards bats
• 3. Conduct the Annual Bat Count, a Citizen Science program to provide

baseline population data and engage landowners

• 4. Enhance bat habitat in human-altered landscapes, primarily through

installation and monitoring of bat-houses CBP works with many regional stewardship and conservation organizations.

BC Community Bat Program and WNS surveillance efforts

• BC CBP network is able to utilize our large network of

partners to assist in surveillance efforts

• regional partners (e.g., Habitat Acquisition Trust, Kootenay

Community Bat Program, BC Parks)

• regional coordinators
• landowners
• volunteers

Current surveillance and monitoring efforts

• 1. Annual Bat Count – the only province-wide

roost monitoring program

• 2. Winter surveillance – dead bats and unusual

activity (November - May)

• 3. Spring guano sampling (April - June)

Annual Bat Count

• Kootenay Community Bat Program initiated in 2012; now

across BC

• Purpose
• to identify and monitor colonies and detect declines due to

WNS

• encourage stewardship by Regional Coordinators and

Volunteers

• Visual exit counts at bat roosts in anthropogenic structures
• Ideally 2 counts before pupping (June) and 2 after pupping

(July/August)

Annual Bat Count

• Modelled on the UK National Bat

Monitoring Program

– most species : 5 – 9 years of counts at 100 sites to detect population changes of 5% per year

• We will likely be looking at a much larger decline
• 30 – 99 % yearly after WNS arrived
• No problem seeing decline in eastern Canada – no statistics

necessary, many fewer sites need to be monitored

• Detecting recovery will be challenging
• Recovery will likely be slow; many sites needed to detect

small changes

ABC: # of sites to 2017

Year Sites Counts 2012 10 26 2013 31 82 2014 44 113 2015 75 201 2016 152 396 2017 142 470 Total 257 1288

ABC: sampling sites

ABC: # of years of monitoring

Number of Years Counted Number of Sites % of Total 1 156 61 2 45 17 3 32 12 4 9 4 5 14 5 6 1 1 Total 257 100

ABC: species detected

• More than one

species can occupy the same roost site

• 46 % (92/198) of

roosts are confirmed to have Little Brown Myotis

Little Brown 46% Yuma 34% Big Brown 7% California 7% Townsend's 4% Long-eared, Long-legged 1%

Trends at Annual Bat Count sites

ABC: Citizen Scientist involvement

• 2017 : 470 counts at 142 sites across the province
• Impossible without volunteer involvement
• Regional coordinators work with naturalist groups, community

groups, and keen individuals

• Volunteers participated in a minimum of 90 % (418 /470) of

counts.

Winter WNS surveillance

• Public reporting and submission of dead bats for testing:
• 32 in 2017
• 7 from Jan – Mar 2018, more expected.
• Small sample size

Spring guano for WNS surveillance

• Guano sampling protocol:
• Prep sites in early spring
• Allow guano to accumulate for ~ 28 days
• Collect and submit to FLNRO
• Will increase sample size in the surveillance program
• Targets roosts counted in ABC
• Relies in part on Citizen Science roost stewards and volunteers
• Year 1 is underway

Benefits of the citizen science approach for WNS surveillance

• Wide-spread: extensive coverage across BC
• Increased sample sizes: public involvement in

surveillance and sample collection extends the sampling program beyond what paid biologists could achieve

• Positive benefits to bats: public engagement

and education about bats should ultimately contribute to bat conservation

Thank-you!

• Province of BC – particularly O. Dyer, H. Schwantje,
• P. Govindarajulu, S. Willmott, and C. Nelson
• Glenna MacGregor of the CWHC lab in Abbotsford
• Our many regional coordinators and volunteers
• BCCF – K. Calon
• Our primary funders and many regional partners

Contact the BC Community Bat Program Email: info@bcbats.ca Phone: 1-855-922-2287 Web: www.bcbats.ca Facebook: www.facebook.com/bcbats