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Long-term changes in winter abundance of the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus in Poland and the climate change - Are current monitoring schemes still reliable for cryophilic bat species?

ABSTRACT: Warmer winters may lead to changes in the hibernation behaviour of bats, such as the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus, which prefers to hibernate at low temperatures. The species is also known for its large annual fluctuations in the number of wintering individuals, so inference about population trends should be based on long-term data. Prior to 2005, analyses indicated stable or even increasing barbastelle population in Poland. We analysed the results of 13 winter bat counts (2005-2017) of the species from 15 of the largest hibernacula, and additional site of 47 small bunkers, in Poland. The total number of wintering individuals remained stable during the study period, because the barbastelle is not a long-distance migrant, this likely reflects the national population trend. On the basis of mean winter air temperatures we divided the country into four thermal regions. Analyses of barbastelle abundance in hibernacula in the four regions revealed a 4.8% annual mean increase in numbers in the coldest region, where mean winter temperatures were below -2°C, annual mean declines of 3.3% and 3.1% in two warmer regions of western Poland, but no trend in the region of intermediate mean winter temperatures of between -1°C and -2°C. Overall, there was a significant, but weak, negative correlation between the abundance of hibernating individuals and the mean winter temperature. On the other hand, the number of individuals hibernating in small bunkers increased, even though the site was located in one of the warm regions. The results indicate a warming climate will likely reduce the use of large, well-insulated winter roosts by species that prefer colder conditions-and that this is already happening. For forest-dwelling bats, such as the barbastelle, for which monitoring schemes are primarily based on winter surveys of large hibernacula, estimations of population trends may consequently become less reliable.

SUBMITTER: Gottfried I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7028302 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Long-term changes in winter abundance of the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus in Poland and the climate change - Are current monitoring schemes still reliable for cryophilic bat species?

Gottfried Iwona I Gottfried Tomasz T Lesiński Grzegorz G Hebda Grzegorz G Ignaczak Maurycy M Wojtaszyn Grzegorz G Jurczyszyn Mirosław M Fuszara Maciej M Fuszara Elżbieta E Grzywiński Witold W Błachowski Grzegorz G Hejduk Janusz J Jaros Radosław R Kowalski Marek M

PloS one 20200218 2

Warmer winters may lead to changes in the hibernation behaviour of bats, such as the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus, which prefers to hibernate at low temperatures. The species is also known for its large annual fluctuations in the number of wintering individuals, so inference about population trends should be based on long-term data. Prior to 2005, analyses indicated stable or even increasing barbastelle population in Poland. We analysed the results of 13 winter bat counts (2005-2017) of ...[more]

PMID: 32069315

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Project description:Woodpecker diversity is usually higher in natural forests rich in dead wood and old trees than in managed ones, thus this group of birds is regarded as an indicator of forest biodiversity. Woodpeckers excavate cavities which can be subsequently used by several bird species. As a consequence, their abundance indicates high avian abundance and diversity in forests. However, woodpecker-made holes may be also important for other animals, for example, mammals but it has seldom been investigated so far. Here, we examine how well one species, the Great Spotted Woodpecker, predicts species richness, occurrence and acoustic activity of bats in Polish pine forests. In 2011 we conducted woodpecker and bat surveys at 63 point-count sites in forests that varied in terms of stand age, structure and amount of dead wood. From zero to five Great Spotted Woodpeckers at a point-count site were recorded. The total duration of the echolocation calls during a 10-min visit varied from 0 to 542 s and the number of bat species/species groups recorded during a visit ranged between zero to five. The local abundance of the woodpecker was positively correlated with bat species richness (on the verge of significance), bat occurrence and pooled bat activity. The occurrence of Eptesicus and Vespertilio bats and Nyctalus species was positively related with the abundance of the Great Spotted Woodpecker. The activity of Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Eptesicus and Vespertilio bats and a group of Myotis species was not associated with the woodpecker abundance, but echolocation calls of Nyctalus species, P. nathusii and P.pipistrellus were more often at sites with many Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Moreover, the probability of bat presence and the activity of bats was generally higher shortly after dusk and in middle of the summer than in late spring. We suggest that the observed correlations can be driven by similar roosting habitats (e.g., woodpeckers can provide breeding cavities for bats) or possibly by associated invertebrate food resources of woodpeckers and bats. The abundance of Great Spotted Woodpecker seems to be a good positive indicator of bat species richness, occurrence and activity, thus adding a group of relatively cryptic forest species that are indicated by the presence of the Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Dataset Information

Long-term changes in winter abundance of the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus in Poland and the climate change - Are current monitoring schemes still reliable for cryophilic bat species?

Publications

Long-term changes in winter abundance of the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus in Poland and the climate change - Are current monitoring schemes still reliable for cryophilic bat species?

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