Maternity roosts of the giant noctule, Nyctalus lasiopterus, in preserved and disturbed forests of the Western Carpathians
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY(2024)
Abstract
The giant noctule is a rare European bat about which we have little ecological information, but it is a priority species for which we need to determine the best conservation measures. Acoustic monitoring followed by a radio-tracking survey resulted in the localisation of two maternity colonies in different forest areas in the Western Carpathians, one in protected mixed stands in a national park (Muranska planina Mts) and the other in disturbed secondary spruce forests (Balocke vrchy Mts). The 95% home-range polygon of the roosts was about 3.5 km(2) for both colonies. Eurasian aspen (Populus tremula) accounted for 100% of roosts (n = 18 trees) in mixed stands. However, even in the spruce monocultures, bats roosted in cavities of this tree whenever possible, although 76% of roosts (n = 21 trees) were still in Norway spruce (Picea abies). Regardless of forest type, the bats preferred to roost at the edges of the stands and on steep slopes that offered a free exit from the roost into open space. Small-scale salvage logging during bark beetle outbreaks can also create suitable open roosting habitats. Our observations indicate that structured stands with a higher proportion of aspen will positively affect tree-dwelling bats in mountain forests.
MoreTranslated text
Key words
arboreal bats,greater noctule,forest management,nature conservation,temperate zone,tree hollows
AI Read Science
Must-Reading Tree
Example
![](https://originalfileserver.aminer.cn/sys/aminer/pubs/mrt_preview.jpeg)
Generate MRT to find the research sequence of this paper
Chat Paper
Summary is being generated by the instructions you defined