The Southeastern Bat Diversity Network (SBDN) held its 21st annual meeting in concert with the 26th annual Colloquium on the Conservation of Mammals in the Southeastern U.S., during February 18-19, 2016, at Lake Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, Alabama.  Approximately 230 people attended this meeting.  February 18 commenced with the inaugural spotted skunk cooperative study group meeting for the southeast region. Concurrent with the study group meeting (i.e., for those not planning to attend), a variety of field trips to local natural resource and scenic features (scenic waterfalls, were offered and provided by Guntersville State Park’s natural resource staff.  The spotted skunk study group and field trips were followed by the SBDN business meeting and SBDN plenary, which included sessions on bats and conservation genetics, regulatory updates and approaches by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service related to federally listed bats, and endeavors by the U.S. Forest Service, Georgia Power Company, and Georgia Department of Transportation towards bat conservation and management. February 18 concluded with a poster session that featured 33 posters which spanned numerous topics across multiple mammal species. The poster session was coupled with a very successful silent auction and evening social.  This highly attended session facilitated opportunities for networking among students, professional mammal biologists, colleagues, friends, and collaborators. February 19 was devoted to the Mammal Colloquium.  Thirty-one speakers presented on topics that included habitat use and distribution, habitat management, acoustic monitoring, and modeling. Mammals addressed included multiple bat species, pocket gopher, spotted skunk, shrews, mice, flying squirrels and elephants.

 

2016 Program