Background: Working with a network of volunteers, static acoustic bat detectors were deployed over five survey seasons, 2020-2024, to provide bat data for the Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership Scheme area of the North York Moors National Park. This report provides an overview of the survey coverage and results from the project. 

Coverage: Between 2020 and 2024, 406 different locations across the Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership Scheme area were surveyed. Recording was undertaken on a minimum of 535 different nights mainly between May and the end of September each year, amounting to a total of 1,829 nights of recording effort across sites over the five survey seasons. Sound recordings were uploaded by volunteers or National Park staff to the BTO Acoustic Pipeline, through which a first automated analyses was carried out and provisional results returned. Recordings were then moved to deep glacial storage for later auditing. At the end of each survey season, a copy of the recordings was pulled back and manual auditing of the results / recordings carried out. 

Results: Overall, 2,210,993 recordings were collected over the five years of the project which, following analyses and validation, were found to include 1,235,773 bat recordings, and 1,066 small terrestrial mammal recordings. Bush-crickets and audible moth species were also recorded as ‘by-catch’, for which we report species presence on a site and night basis. Following validation, the study confirmed the presence of at least 10 bat species, four small mammal species, three species of bush-cricket, and two audible moth species. Through this project, we have significantly improved our understanding of the status of all species of bats across the Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership area, and of the relative importance of different areas. Lastly, the project provides data on the distribution and activity of several species of small terrestrial mammals. The report includes a full species-by-species breakdown of spatial, seasonal, and through-the-night patterns of activity.