Texas Bat Colonies & Future Urbanization Scenarios: 2060, 2080, and 2100

The state of Texas has a number of notable bat colonies, even some that feature as famous tourist attractions. Although Texas is known for its wide-open spaces,  it is also the USA's second-most-populous state and rapidly urbanizing, a potential threat to the bats. Urbanization is one of the most significant factors that contribute to decreasing bat populations. Light pollution and changes in the supply of space, food, and water all serve to push bats to the margins. This map includes toggle-able layers showing potential future urbanization scenarios (Petrasova, et al., 2023), projecting trends of the current status quo to the years 2060, 2080, and 2100.  Bat colonies of interest are overlaid as points, making these urbanization scenarios a platform for considering possible bat futures.

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Citation

Petrasova, A., Sanchez, G.M., Lawrimore, M.A., Vogler, J.B., Collins, E.L., Petras, V., Harper, T., Butzler, E., and Meentemeyer, R.K., 2023, FUTURES v2: Status Quo Projections of Future Patterns of Urbanization Across the Conterminous United States from 2020 to 2100: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P94N3ICH.