Bat response to prescribed fire and overstory thinning in hardwood forest on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee

Across the Southeastern U.S., including the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, prescribed fire and overstory thinning are being used to restore areas of closed-canopy hardwood forest to open woodland and savanna. We used acoustic recording of bat echolocation call sequences to examine bat activity (relative use of an area for foraging) in hardwood forest stands subject to 4 prescribed fire and residual basal area treatments (spring prescribed fire with woodland [SpW] and savanna [SpS] residual basal areas, and fall prescribed fire with woodland [FaW] and savanna [FaS]) basal areas, as well as untreated controls, during summer of 2013 and 2014. When possible, we classified recorded echolocation call sequences to species using automated identification software (Sonobat™ 3.1.4, SonoBat™ Inc., Arcata, California). To minimize errors in species classification of recorded bat passes, we combined similar species in groups based on call characteristics prior to conducting analyses. Total bat activity (P⩽0.001), as well as LABO/NYHU (eastern red bat [Lasiurus borealis] and evening bat [Nycticeius humeralis]; P=0.001), EPFU/LANO (big brown bat [Eptesicus fuscus] and silver-haired bat [Lasionycteris noctivagans]; P⩽0.001), PESU (tricolored bat [Perimyotis subflavus]; P=0.001), and LACI (hoary bat [Lasiurus cinereus]; P=0.005) activity was generally higher in SpS and FaS stands, where overstory basal area was lower, than in control, SpW, and FaW stands, where overstory basal area was higher (P⩽0.001). Our results suggest these treatments reduce clutter (physical obstructions to flight and foraging including foliage, branches, and stems), leading to improved foraging conditions for bats, particularly larger bodied species with lower call frequencies that are adapted to fly and forage in open conditions. We found no evidence nocturnal flying insect prey abundance or biomass influenced activity of bats in treatment stands, indicating clutter is more important than prey availability in determining habitat use by bats in this system. Our study provides support for continued use of prescribed fire and overstory thinning to restore hardwood forest to woodland and savanna and as a strategy to maintain and enhance habitat for forest bats in the Southeastern U.S.