Growing hickories (Carya spp.) for roost trees: A Method To Support Conservation Of Declining Bat Populations

Bats (Vespertilionidae and Phyllostomidae) are a critically important component of North American ecosystems. These insectivorous mammals provide largely unrecognized ecosystem services to agriculture and forest health and sustain bat-dependent native plant populations. The decline of North American bat populations reflects the recent emergence of the fungal disease white nose syndrome (WNS); susceptibility to pollutants; and rapid changes occurring in the North American landscape, such as energy development and associated forest fragmentation and loss. Hickories (Carya L. spp. [Juglandaceae]) are an important roost tree for bats in the eastern US, and we describe how to propagate them in bareroot nurseries.

Luna T, Lindner DL, Dumroese RK. 2014. Growing hickories (Carya spp.) for roost trees: a method to support conservation of declining bat populations. Native Plants Journal 15(1):66–74.