Bat Diversity, Assemblage, and Land Use in Connecticut

Christopher D. Wisniewski^1,*, Dana M. Green², Steven P. Brady¹, Matthew D. Miller³, and Miranda Dunbar¹

¹Department of Biology, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515. ²Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada S0G 2K0. ³Department of the Environment, Geography and Marine Sciences, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515. ^*Corresponding author.

Journal of North American Bat Research, Volume 3 (2025):1–19

Abstract
Human-induced landscape modifications have amplified the loss of biodiversity. Our goal was to survey bats across heterogeneous landscapes in Connecticut and examine how habitat features and scale influence community composition. This state is among areas most heavily impacted by whitenose syndrome, and the current status of bat biodiversity is largely unknown. We conducted acoustic surveys to examine how species richness, activity, and diversity varied across macrohabitats and a canonical correspondence analysis to assess the relation between community composition and land use at buffers with a radius of 200 and 500 m. We detected 8 of the 9 species historically reported in Connecticut. Species richness, activity, and diversity were greatest in macrohabitats dominated by natural water features and grasslands. Within the 200 m buffer area, species were grouped in forest, water-dominated, and cultivated landscapes; while within the 500 m buffer area, species were grouped away from development. Our results suggest that heterogeneous landscapes containing forest, water, and agricultural features are important for supporting communities at small spatial scales, and although development at any spatial scale hampers bat diversity, the negative effects are greatest within larger spatial scales.

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