With the threat of a deadly bat fungus looming over Alberta, the province has revved up its bat monitoring program.
Technology to analyze bat echolocation calls has been around for years, but improvements are making it more effective.
In Alberta, scientists are using a new e-platform to help process the bat calls and get information into databases to help figure out the populations and locations of different bat species.
The data itself can’t do anything to stop the dreaded white nose fungus from making its inevitable way into Alberta, but the provincial government’s resident bat expert Lisa Wilkinson says it can help inform a proactive response plan for when the fungus does hit.
Gathering baseline data about Alberta’s bats is key, Wilkinson said.
“The more we know, we might be in a position to help (bats) if research shows ways to do that,” she said.
Read more at Edmonton Journal
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