Bat-Friendly Maple? Analyzing Cultural Connotations, Ecological Relationships, and Best Management Practices

Bats and maple carry strong cultural connotations. Traditionally, people associate maple trees and syrup production with pride, history, joy, and regional meaning. In contrast, the mere mention of Chiroptera conjures images of vampires, witches, and disease. At the same time, these two entities share an interesting and multi-faceted ecological relationship: bats roost in large, shaggy bark maples, prey on insects that plague the sugaring industry, and contribute to nutrient cycling. This thesis seeks to address how maple production in New England can be made more sustainable, while improving the public's misguided distaste for bats. The ultimate proposal is "Bat-Friendly Maple" – a set of best management practices sugar producers can implement to support bats, thus improving general forest health. Through this program, maple producers would act as social, as well as ecological, ambassadors of bats. The public would be receptive to such discourse coming from maple producers, whom they already support. In order to investigate the program's feasibility, acoustic monitoring was performed at five Connecticut sugarbushes to investigate bat presence, and a survey was conducted at the November meeting of the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut (MSPAC). Bats were found at four out of five monitored sites, and producers were enthusiastic about the program, indicating high feasibility for Bat-Friendly Maple.