Forest management can have mixed impacts on tree-roosting bats. Several bat species have benefitted from increased roost availability generated by certain silvicultural methods. To further investigate the impacts of forest management on bats, we conducted a study on the federally threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) in managed forests within south-central Indiana, USA. During the summers of 2012–2015, we captured and tracked 69 female bats back to 175 roosts, for which we collected roost-scale data. We compared the frequency that roosts and random points were located in (or within 10 m of) timber harvest openings and first-stage shelterwood cuts as well as their distances to these harvest types. Female northern long-eared bats roosted in a variety of roost types in a variety of tree species. However, bats tended to roost more frequently in crevices and cavities located on live sassafras (Sassafras albidum; which were often hollow) that dominated the forest mid-story and large oaks and maples in the overstory (Quercus spp., Acer spp.). While bats used roosts that were closer to harvest openings and first-stage shelterwood cuts, they did not preferentially use or avoid roosts within these sites based on their availability. However, bats did roost within both harvest openings and shelterwood cuts. Roosts used by bats in this study area are similar to those used in other landscapes, suggesting that forest management does not affect bats’ choice of roost. Our results suggest that the roosting behavior of female northern long-eared bats are not negatively impacted by forest management, at least within these south-central Indiana forests.

森林管理可能会对栖木蝙蝠产生不同的影响。某些蝙蝠物种已受益于某些造林方法产生的栖息地数量的增加。为了进一步调查森林管理对蝙蝠的影响，我们对受到联邦威胁的北方长耳蝙蝠（Myotis septentrionalis）进行了研究。）位于美国印第安纳州中南部的人工林中。在2012-2015年夏季，我们捕获并追踪了69头雌蝙蝠，并将它们追溯到175个栖息地，为此我们收集了栖息地规模数据。我们比较了栖息地和随机点位于木材采伐口和第一阶段防护林砍伐中（或其附近10 m内）的频率，以及它们与这些采伐类型的距离。雌性北方长耳蝙蝠栖息在各种树种中的各种栖息地中。但是，蝙蝠往往更频繁地栖息在活的assa（Sassafras albidum；通常是中空的）上的缝隙和洞中，这些空隙和洞占了森林中层以及上层的大橡树和枫树（栎木（Quercus spp。），宏A（Acer）spp。）。蝙蝠使用的栖息地更接近收获口和第一阶段的砍伐木材，但根据它们的可用性，它们并未优先使用或避免在这些地点使用栖息地。但是，蝙蝠在采伐口和砍伐木料中都栖息。该研究区域中蝙蝠使用的栖息地与其他景观中使用的栖息地相似，这表明森林管理不会影响蝙蝠对栖息地的选择。我们的研究结果表明，至少在印第安纳州中南部的这些森林中，北方长耳雌性蝙蝠的栖息地行为不受森林管理的负面影响。