Structure of summer bat assemblages in forests in European Russia

Authors : ANTON VLASCHENKO, KSENIIA KRAVCHENKO, ALONA PRYLUTSKA, ELENA IVANCHEVA, ELENA SITNIKOVA, ALEXANDER MISHIN

Pages : 876-893

View : 14 | Download : 6

Publication Date : 0000-00-00

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :We used mist-netting to study summer bat assemblages in 3 state nature biosphere reserves in the European part of Russia from 26 June to 29 July 2013: Oksky, Ryazan region insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(54°44`N, 40°54`E);; Voronezhsky, Voronezh region insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(51°55`N, 39°38`E);; and `Bryansky Les`, Bryansk region insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(52°27`N, 33°53`E);. The main research efforts were in locations where Nyctalus lasiopterus had been captured in the past. In total, 1229 specimens of 12 bat species insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Myotis daubentonii, M. dasycneme, M. brandtii, M. mystacinus, Nyctalus noctula, N. lasiopterus, N. leisleri, Eptesicus serotinus, Pipistrellus nathusii, P. pygmaeus, Vespertilio murinus, and Plecotus auritus); were caught. N. lasiopterus insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(a female subadult); was confirmed only in the Voronezhsky Reserve. The bat assemblages could be classified as forest-dwelling and dominated by long-distance migratory species insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(genera Nyctalus, Pipistrellus, and Vespertilio);. Females also dominated and breeding was recorded for most of the species. The highest bat abundance insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(b/h index: 4.54); was in the Voronezhsky Reserve insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(the most southeasterly location); and the lowest insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(b/h index: 1.75); was in `Bryansky Les` insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(the most southwesterly location);. The Shannon-Wiener index was higher in the Voronezhsky and Oksky Reserves but the evenness index was similar for all reserves. Bat assemblage structure in strictly protected forest areas insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(such as the Voronezhsky Reserve); has been stable for decades.
Keywords : Bats, Chiroptera, summer assemblage, relative abundance, sex ratio, Nyctalus lasiopterus, Myotis mystacinus, European Russia, forest reserves