Exposure of big brown bats to trace metals and pesticides in agricultural environments
– Daniel Kneeshaw, François Fabianek, Kim Couture, Maikel Rosabal (Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM))
The goal of the project is to determine and compare the contamination of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) frequenting agricultural versus forest environments. Bats will be sampled for trace metal elements by collecting fur and skin samples from bats captured near targeted maternity roosts. Five maternity roosts in low-disturbed forest environments (controls such as Kenauk) and five maternity roosts in industrial agricultural environments will be sampled and compared. Guano will also be collected for pesticide presence analyses. The health of the captured bats will be determined by body condition (forearm size in relation to weight) and the abundance of ectoparasites indicating an effect on the bat’s immune system. These data will be compared between the two environments to determine which contaminants are most abundant depending on the environment and if there are any notable effects on the health of the bats.
