Little brown Myotis roosts are spatially associated with foraging resources on Prince Edward Island

Animal fitness is closely linked to accessing and capitalizing on local resources such as prey and shelter. Resources vary in quality, thus individuals may demonstrate selectivity for particular resource types. We examined resource selection in roost selection patterns of temperate bats on Prince Edward Island. To complement existing work examining roost structural characteristics, we evaluated whether roost selection by little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) could be explained by landscape characteristics. Given a sample of roosts identified through radio telemetry, community reports and a randomly selected sample of comparison structures, we determined that a combination of proximity to forest and open wetland best explained roost selection. Roost selection appears to reflect the optimization of time and energy budgets, and the proportion of maternity roosts within the sample suggests that these constraints may be more acute in reproductive females. Given the importance of roosts for reproductive success in females, future work should seek to quantify the role of physical characteristics on roost structure selection and the preservation of suitable roosting structures.