Bat foraging preference along the Tuolumne River

Rivers and riparian areas are valuable foraging habitat for bats. Bats are becoming increasingly threatened due to habitat loss, therefore it is crucial to understand how to identify characteristics that make specific areas of a river more preferred than others. The geomorphology of a river can determine diverse aquatic habitats and can affect the ecology of bats by providing sources for food availability, corridors, and shelter. The Tuolumne River was surveyed for aquatic species and flow rate, along elevation difference that spanned the entire Tuolumne River. Based on previous studies on bat habitat preference, four study sites were compared and were relatively ranked among each other to determine the best forging regions. This analysis suggests that the reach surveyed at Early Intake would provide the best foraging habitat among the four sites because of its high aquatic insect abundance and mid-elevation location. The least preferred bat foraging habitat was the Tuolumne meadows due to its low level of aquatic insect abundance and high elevation. The mid elevation site at Merals Pool and low elevation site at the Lower Tuolumne River were considered intermediate bat foraging habitats