Distribution and abundance of the south-eastern form of the greater long-eared bat 'Nyctophilus timoriensis'

Abstract

In south-eastern Australia, the greater long-eared bat ('Nyctophilus timoriensis') has been rarely captured and is considered uncommon, although large areas within its range have received little survey effort. We collate existing capture records and present new data on 'N. timoriensis' captures from recent fauna surveys across the western slopes and plains of New South Wales (NSW). From 1628 trap nights at 39 study areas, 118 'N. timoriensis' were captured out of a total of 8266 bats. In larger remnants in the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion, N. timoriensis was captured at a rate of 0.1 to 0.6 per trap night and made up 7 to 9% of bat captures. This was approximately an order of magnitude greater than in other study areas throughout western NSW. There were no captures from the Darling Riverine Plains Bioregion. These surveys show that the large vegetation remnants of Goonoo, Pilliga West and Pilliga East study areas were a distinct stronghold in the distribution of the south-eastern form of 'N. timoriensis'.