Root cellars are important winter roosts for brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus) and northern bats (Eptesicus nilssonii) in Latvia
-
Viesturs Vintulis
und
Gunārs Pētersons
Abstract
Small human-used root cellars are the most widespread bat hibernacula in Latvia, but their importance was hitherto underestimated. We compared bat species diversity and numbers of individuals in root cellars with that in other types of bat hibernacula in Latvia over 35 years. Both species diversity and number of bats hibernating in root cellars were significantly lower than that in other roost types. However, two species, Plecotus auritus and Eptesicus nilssonii, extensively used root cellars as hibernacula. The maximum population size of bat species hibernating in root cellars in Latvia was estimated to be from 27,600 to 42,450 individuals for P. auritus and from 7940 to 12,210 for E. nilssonii. We conclude that root cellars are crucial hibernation sites for P. auritus and E. nilssonii in Latvia.
We would like to express our gratitude to many people who helped in fieldwork, particularly to Ainis Platais, Vita Līcīte, Irisa Šmite, and Ēriks Dreibants. We are grateful to Dr. Matti Masing for fruitful discussions during the writing of this article. We are also very thankful to those numerous people who responded to our web and newspaper questionnaires. We thank Dr. Ainārs Auniņš who kindly helped process our statistical data. We are especially grateful to Dr. Jens Rydell for his valuable comments and suggestions that considerably improved our manuscript. This work has been supported by the European Social Fund within the project “Support for Doctoral Studies at University of Latvia – 2”.
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©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Review
- Population and community dynamics and habitat selection of rodents in complex desert landscapes
- Original Studies
- Social thermoregulation in least shrews, Cryptotis parva
- Environmental variables and reproductive activity in small rodents of pampean agroecosystems
- Feeding habits of the common genet (Genetta genetta) in the area of Djurdjura, north of Algeria
- Snow cover and riparian habitat determine the distribution of the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) at its southern range limits in arid western North America
- Surprising low abundance of European wildcats in a Mediterranean protected area of southwestern Spain
- Distribution and spread of an introduced insular population of red-bellied squirrels (Sciurus aureogaster) in Florida
- Ranging patterns of François’ langur in a fragmented habitat in Fusui Reserve, Guangxi Province, China
- Root cellars are important winter roosts for brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus) and northern bats (Eptesicus nilssonii) in Latvia
- Interindividual variations in fruit preferences of the yellow-shouldered bat Sturnira lilium (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in a cafeteria experiment
- A preliminary investigation into the endoparasite load of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Ireland
- Using craniometrical predictors to infer body size of Antillean manatees
- Short Notes
- Anthropogenic effects on the feeding habits of wolves in an altered arid landscape of central Iran
- Reproductive data of a threatened bat, Myotis ruber (É. Geoffroy, 1806) (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in a southern Brazilian deciduous seasonal forest
- First record of Micronycteris sanborni (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Central Amazonia, Brazil: range expansion and description of its echolocation
- Recent record of the Asiatic lesser yellow house bat (Scotophilus kuhlii) from Punjab, Pakistan
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Review
- Population and community dynamics and habitat selection of rodents in complex desert landscapes
- Original Studies
- Social thermoregulation in least shrews, Cryptotis parva
- Environmental variables and reproductive activity in small rodents of pampean agroecosystems
- Feeding habits of the common genet (Genetta genetta) in the area of Djurdjura, north of Algeria
- Snow cover and riparian habitat determine the distribution of the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) at its southern range limits in arid western North America
- Surprising low abundance of European wildcats in a Mediterranean protected area of southwestern Spain
- Distribution and spread of an introduced insular population of red-bellied squirrels (Sciurus aureogaster) in Florida
- Ranging patterns of François’ langur in a fragmented habitat in Fusui Reserve, Guangxi Province, China
- Root cellars are important winter roosts for brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus) and northern bats (Eptesicus nilssonii) in Latvia
- Interindividual variations in fruit preferences of the yellow-shouldered bat Sturnira lilium (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in a cafeteria experiment
- A preliminary investigation into the endoparasite load of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in Ireland
- Using craniometrical predictors to infer body size of Antillean manatees
- Short Notes
- Anthropogenic effects on the feeding habits of wolves in an altered arid landscape of central Iran
- Reproductive data of a threatened bat, Myotis ruber (É. Geoffroy, 1806) (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in a southern Brazilian deciduous seasonal forest
- First record of Micronycteris sanborni (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Central Amazonia, Brazil: range expansion and description of its echolocation
- Recent record of the Asiatic lesser yellow house bat (Scotophilus kuhlii) from Punjab, Pakistan
