LAUSR

Abstract Site-occupancy of bats in forested landscapes has been linked to vegetation clutter, but clutter alone may not sufficiently explain observed site-occupancy. Abundance of prey likely has a strong influence on habitat use in forest landscapes as well. Therefore, we simultaneously examined influence of insect abundance and vegetation characteristics on bat site-occupancy across 3 pine (Pinus spp.)-dominated landscapes within the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain. We conducted acoustic surveys and used Akaike’s Information Criterion to evaluate plausibility of occupancy and detection models that incorporated vegetation- and insect-related factors. Results indicate that bat site-occupancy was better explained by a combination of vegetation characteristics and insect abundance than either separately, and vegetation structure has a stronger influence than prey abundance. Additionally, our data generally suggest insect taxon is more influential in predicting occupancy than insect size. Management activities on pine-dominated landscapes that simultaneously reduce vegetation clutter and increase insect abundance are likely to benefit resident bat species.