Conservation of bats in the Veternica Cave, Croatia

Autor: Hamidović, Daniela, Žvorc, Petra
Přispěvatelé: Espinosa, Cristina, Navarro, Laura, Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquín, Flores, Jose Juan, Galicia, Claudia, Medellín, Rodrigo, López, Gabriela, Cristina Espinosa, Laura Navarro, Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales, Jose Juan Flores, Claudia
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2007
Předmět:
Popis: Veternica Cave located in the vicinity of the Croatian capitol Zagreb is managed by the Nature Park Medvednica. The cave is open for tourists. In order to minimize bat disturbance Nature Park ordered 2-year research from the Croatian Biospeleological Society that was conducted from the end of 2003. till mid 2005. In the Veternica Cave 17 bat species have been recorded by now. Recent researches confirmed the presence of 13 bat species while during this project 12 bat species have been recorded. The cave is important hibernation site for 8 bat species: Myotis blythii, M. daubentonii, M. emarginatus, M. myotis, M. nattereri, Rhinolophus hipposideros, Rh. euryale and Rh. ferrumequinum that is in accordance with previous research. Occasionally, the cave is used by 4 more bat species during hibernation: Barbastella barbastellus, Eptesicus serotinus, Plecotus macrobullaris and M. bechsteinii. The cave is an important summer roost for 2 bats species: Miniopterus schreibersii and Rh. euryale. For the roost protection special bat friendly doors were constructed after project was finished. The maximum number of Rh. ferrumequinum decreased approximately 40% in the last 10 years. In this research we found only solitary individuals of Rh. euryale, which counted 130 individuals 10 years ago. The number of hibernating Rh. hipposideros bats increased 4 times. Compared to research undertaken 50 years ago the number of bats in the Min. schreibersii summer roost increased several times, while the numbers of bats in Rh. euryale bat summer roost stayed the same. A short-term influence of visitors on the cave temperature has been recorded. Nature Park Medvednica can use description of bat ecology, main characteristics used for bat determination, wing design of different species, photo and video material in educational/promotional purposes and for bat monitoring. This is the first cave in Croatia officially closed for visits during bat hibernation.
Databáze: OpenAIRE