BFS student researcher Lauren Dorough, Cal State Fullerton, received a SACNAS Student Research Presentation Award at the SACNAS National Conference, held October 11–14 in Seattle, Washington, for her outstanding research poster, “Effects of Urbanization on Activity and Diversity of Southern California Bats”.
Lauren Dorough with her poster. Credit: Courtesy of Cal State Fullerton.
Urbanization affects many bat species by causing loss of roosting sites and foraging habitat, but it’s unclear what factors allow some bat species to persist in cities and suburban landscapes, while others decline. Because little is known about how Southern California’s 14 bat species are affected by urban development, Lauren monitored bat activity and species richness at the BFS and three other sites in the San Gabriel Valley that vary in microhabitat features and levels of urbanization. To monitor the bat populations, Lauren used an acoustical detector to record bat echolocation calls and then analyzed the recorded calls with special software to identify each bat species.
Lauren deploying her equipment at one of her study sites. Credit: Courtesy of Cal State Fullerton.
You can see her equipment deployed at pHake Lake in this earlier post.
Lauren’s work on how bats are affected by the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats will aid in regional bat conservation efforts, and we congratulate Lauren on her award!
More information:
- http://news.fullerton.edu/2012fa/Bat-Studies-Dorough.asp – CSU Fullerton News Article
- Dorough, Lauren. 2013. Effects of Urbanization on Activity and Diversity of Southern California Bats. SACNAS Conference 2012 – Science, Technology, and Diversity for a Healthy World, Abstract SAT-942.