Abstract | Are we monitoring in the dark?

In order to understand if roads pose a threat to NZ’s bat populations, we need to understand the effects of roads on this vulnerable fauna, along with the strategies needed to mitigate these effects. This requires knowledge regarding bat population dynamics, distribution and behaviours. However, much of the monitoring undertaken to date in NZ does not quantify the impacts on bats effectively, meaning we remain largely in the dark when it comes to their management.

Wildland Consultants, AECOM NZ ltd and Landcare Research were commissioned by the NZ Transport Agency to develop a framework that would guide projects to identify and reduce the adverse impacts of linear infrastructure on bats. During this process we were confronted with the fundamental challenges of how to provide sound monitoring guidance in the absence of supporting evidence, while encouraging infrastructure providers to value the importance of its implementation. By considering the basic principles of monitoring and concentrating on current best practice strategies implemented in NZ and internationally, we were able to develop guidance on:

Field methods to address specific monitoring questions along with their potential constraints, effort requirements and reliability.

Survey and design principals, including: optimal timing, survey design, selection of appropriate personnel and the importance of measuring consistent variables.

Through a collaborative process we identified the barriers to good monitoring, and realised the importance of sharing information between projects and the value of adaptive management.

Recently, our research was put into practice on the Southern Links project in Hamilton, NZ where we used emerging thermal imaging technology to survey bats. This is a novel practice in NZ and uses a high quality thermal imaging camera to monitor bat activity and behaviour. This technology looks to answer some long standing questions in the field and directs us toward a point where we may no longer be ‘monitoring in the dark’.

Bio | Fiona Davies MEIANZ

Fiona Davies is a Principal Environmental Scientist (AECOM) with over 14 years’ experience project managing ecological (freshwater and terrestrial) issues on large scale projects in NZ and the UK. She is passionate about ensuring NZ ecology is considered in every step of project development and uses her position within a global consultancy to help implement change.

She has extensive experience with the ecological assessment of streams, ecological monitoring, mitigation and management of projects (with a particular focus on NZ bats). She has worked for clients in the residential development, roading, wastewater treatment plant, water storage, linear infrastructure and the landfill sectors. Fiona frequently gives advice on the potential ecological impacts of projects.

She has been involved in various feasibility and consenting projects which require stream ecological assessments. She was a key team member for the project team that developed and researched a national framework to manage the effects of land transport activities on New Zealand’s endemic bat populations for the NZ Transport Agency.