Date: August 12, 2026

Time: 10:00 – 11:00am PT

Millions of North American bats have died from white-nose syndrome (WNS) since 2006. WNS is caused by a fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructions, that is widespread in Europe and Asia but only introduced to North America by humans around 2006. Since its introduction to the area surrounding Albany, New York, P. destruction has spread across much of North America, extending its range to the Pacific coast and the Mexican border. For hibernating bats throughout much of this region, the fungus has been devastating, causing populations to decline precipitously and prompting concerns of regional and range-wide extinctions. Although bats are often extirpated from hibernacula once the fungus arrives, P. destructions can survive in the absence of bats for hosts, making hibernacula environmental reservoirs for the fungus. WNS is now considered endemic in Ohio, and bat populations in the state have declined dramatically over the last decade. Unfortunately, an effective management strategy for promoting recovery of WNS susceptible species does not yet exist. It is therefore notable that winter surveys for hibernating bats in Ohio and Pennsylvania have reported an increased use of abandoned railroad tunnels by two species highly imperiled by WNS: the little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) and the tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus). Indeed, the largest little brown myotis hibernacula left in Ohio is an abandoned tunnel. While anecdotal, these observations raise the possibility that these environments may provide bats with a survival advantage. Thus, abandoned railroad tunnels may provide an opportunity for conservation and management. This research seeks to study these environments in order to create recommendations for creating or enhancing similar habitats for bat conservation. ODOT will receive recommendations for protecting and enhancing abandoned railroad tunnels as bat hibernacula from this study. By identifying hibernacula such as abandoned railroad tunnels that have been overlooked by management efforts in the past.