FIGURE 1.

Schematic of the experimental design. Two sites in New York with known persisting colonies of little brown bats and one site that was previously extirpated of little brown bats were used in this study. The three sites are referred to as Persisting 1 (Cold + Dry), Persisting 2 (Cold + Wet), and Extirpated (Warm + Wet). Solid and dashed lines on plots correspond to temperature (Celsius) and vapour pressure deficit (kPa; higher values correspond to drier conditions), respectively, within each site over the course of this study. Mean ± SD of temperature and vapour pressure deficit within each site is shown on each plot. Sites varied in their environmental conditions, with the persisting sites being colder than the extirpated site and Persisting 1 (Cold + Dry) being significantly drier than Persisting 2 (Cold + Wet). Persisting 2 (Cold + Wet) was similar in its humidity conditions to Extirpated (Warm + Wet). In early hibernation, 45 bats from each of the persisting sites (n = 90) were collected and randomly assigned a translocation site and cage (3 bats per cage). The translocation was fully factorial, with 15 bats from each site being caged within the same site, in the opposite persisting site, or the extirpated site. Bats remained caged within these sites until late hibernation, when survivors were returned to their site of origin