Assessing Distribution and Seasonal Activity Patterns of Bats in Five Utah Parks | P19AS00222

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00222

The grant opportunity titled "Assessing Distribution and Seasonal Activity Patterns of Bats in Five Utah Parks" is a National Park Service (NPS) cooperative agreement focused on building a solid, long-term baseline understanding of bat populations across five NPS units in southeastern Utah. The work is led by researchers from Virginia Tech University in collaboration with natural resource staff from Capitol Reef National Park and the Southeast Utah Group, which includes Arches and Canyonlands National Parks as well as Hovenweep and Natural Bridges National Monuments. The core of the project is a two-year acoustic monitoring effort running from summer 2019 through fall 2021, designed to capture continuous data on when and where bats are active throughout the year.

A central reason this project matters is white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly fungal disease that has devastated bat populations in many parts of North America. By documenting bat presence and activity patterns before or as WNS arrives or spreads, the NPS can identify which species or local populations may be most at risk and make more informed management decisions. The study is intended not just to produce a snapshot, but to establish a reference point that park managers can use in future years to detect changes, measure impacts, and evaluate whether conservation actions are working.

The project relies on acoustic surveys, meaning bat echolocation calls are recorded and analyzed to infer species occurrence and activity. Because the data collection is continuous across a two-year window, it is positioned to reveal both spatial patterns (how bat activity differs across locations and habitat types within and among the five parks) and temporal patterns (how activity shifts by season, including potential differences between summer foraging periods, migration windows, and winter activity or occupancy). This approach is especially useful in large, rugged landscapes like the Colorado Plateau where traditional capture-based surveys can be difficult to implement at broad scales.

The opportunity lays out five specific objectives. First, it aims to determine year-round occupancy of bat species within each of the five NPS units, helping clarify which species are present and when they use these landscapes. Second, it seeks to evaluate seasonal variation in bat activity among different habitat types, which can highlight key foraging areas, movement corridors, water-associated activity hotspots, and other habitat relationships that might drive management priorities. Third, it will develop standardized protocols for long-term acoustic monitoring tailored to these parks, which is important because consistent methods over time make trend detection and comparisons much more reliable. Fourth, it will translate the findings into actionable guidance for NPS managers by identifying species or populations that appear vulnerable to WNS and outlining strategies to mitigate the risk and potential spread of the disease across the five park units. Fifth, it emphasizes sharing the resulting information with other agencies and organizations conducting bat research, with the broader goal of filling regional knowledge gaps and improving understanding of bat communities across the Colorado Plateau.

Another key element is the comparative value of the dataset. The opportunity notes that these NPS lands sit within a broader mosaic of multiple-use federal lands, state lands, and private property. By establishing a strong baseline within NPS-managed areas, the results can be compared with adjacent lands to better understand how management regimes, land use, and habitat differences may affect bat distribution and activity. That kind of context can support coordination across jurisdictions, especially when addressing a disease threat like WNS that does not respect park boundaries.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under CFDA number 15.945, and it is structured as a cooperative agreement, signaling substantial collaboration between the federal agency and the research partner rather than a hands-off grant. Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education. The funding opportunity number is P19AS00222, it was created on June 4, 2019, and had an original closing date of June 13, 2019. The award ceiling listed is $222,053, and the opportunity anticipated a single award, consistent with a targeted partnership supporting a defined multi-year monitoring effort.

Overall, the project is best understood as a foundation-building effort: it creates consistent, park-specific and regionally useful information on bat presence and seasonal behavior, improves the NPS ability to respond to WNS with evidence-based strategies, and generates standardized monitoring methods that can be sustained beyond the initial study period and shared across agencies working on bat conservation in the region.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Assessing Distribution and Seasonal Activity Patterns of Bats in Five Utah Parks" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 04, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 13, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $222,053.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for P19AS00222

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