Type: report

Article abstract: We investigated the role of large-scale wildfires on the community composition and structure of foraging bats within San Diego County, California. In October and November of 2003, large–scale wildfires burned nearly 130,000 hectares of San Diego County. To assess the potential impacts of these fires on the native bat communities, we conducted surveys at eleven sites within each of our two study areas, Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve - Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area and Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve. At each study area a subset of these sites was sampled before the fires (2001- 2003) and a subset after the fires (2005-2006). Our pre-fire sampling efforts included five survey techniques: active-Anabat, mist-netting, roost, visual, and audible. These same five techniques were employed during the first year of post-fire sampling, 2005. In 2006, we altered our survey methods by discontinuing mist-netting and began using passive-Anabat monitoring stations instead of an actively monitored station.