Long-legged Myotis – Oregon Conservation Strategy

A long-legged bat (Myotis volans) flying out of Pond Cave in Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho. Photo Credit: Michael Durham, https://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonwild/

Overview

Species Common Name Long-legged Myotis
Species Scientific Name Myotis volans
Federal Listing Status Species of Concern
State Listing Status Sensitive

Ecoregions

Blue Mountains

Located in NE Oregon, the Blue Mountains ecoregion is the largest ecoregion in the state. It provides a diverse complex of mountain ranges, valleys, and plateaus that extend beyond Oregon into the states of Idaho and Washington.

Coast Range

Oregon’s Coast Range, known for its dramatic scenery, is extremely diverse, with habitats ranging from open sandy dunes to lush forests and from tidepools to headwater streams. It follows the coastline and extends east through coastal forest to the border of the Willamette Valley and Klamath Mountains ecoregions

East Cascades

The East Cascade ecoregion extends from the Cascade Mountains’ summit east to the warmer, drier high desert and down the length of the state. This ecoregion varies dramatically from its cool, moist border with the West Cascades ecoregion to its dry eastern border, where it meets sagebrush desert landscapes.

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Umpqua Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, and interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range. The Rogue watershed has the largest population of any coastal watershed in Oregon (Jackson County, Josephine County, and a portion of Curry County). Several popular and scenic rivers run …

Northern Basin and Range

The Northern Basin and Range ecoregion covers the very large southeastern portion of the state, from Burns south to the Nevada border and from the Christmas Valley east to Idaho. It is largely a high elevation desert-like area dominated by sagebrush communities and habitats.

West Cascades

The West Cascades ecoregion extends from east of the Cascade Mountains summit to the foothills of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys, and spans the entire length of the state of Oregon. It is largely dominated by conifer forests, moving into alpine parklands and dwarf shrubs at higher elevations.

Special needs

Long-legged myotis are found in forested areas. They are often associated with late-successional conifer forests or other forested habitat with late-successional components. They require large snags and hollow trees for day, night, and maternity roosts. They may also use bridges in forested habitat for night-roosting, and caves and mines for roosting and hibernating. They typically forage along riparian corridors and forest edges. In the East Cascades ecoregion, long-legged myotis are often associated with ponderosa pine, grand fir, and white fir.

Limiting factors

Long-legged myotis have low reproductive rates. Untimely bridge replacement may impact this species. Long-legged myotis are vulnerable to habitat loss, including reductions in late-successional conifer forests, hollow trees and large, newly-dead snags, and riparian areas.

Data gaps

Assess distribution, abundance, and trends. Determine seasonal movements. Identify winter roost locations and associated microclimate conditions.

Conservation actions

Maintain and create large-diameter hollow trees and large-diameter, tall, newly-dead snags in riparian and upland habitat. Maintain and restore diverse riparian areas. Complete bridge replacement and maintenance when bats are absent. Incorporate snags of pine and fir species into forest management plans.

Key reference or plan

ISSSSP Bat Grid Monitoring – Oregon and Washington