Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula
Little is known about the winter bat activity in Bulgaria, which poses challenges in monitoring potential deviations in their behaviour as a consequence of the warming climate. Using passive acoustic monitoring, we investigated the winter activity in some of Europe’s largest hibernacula. Our finding...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pensoft Publishers
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Biodiversity Data Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/141801/download/pdf/ |
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| author | Nia Toshkova Maksim Kolev Stanimira Deleva Tzvetan Simeonov Vasil Popov |
| author_facet | Nia Toshkova Maksim Kolev Stanimira Deleva Tzvetan Simeonov Vasil Popov |
| author_sort | Nia Toshkova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Little is known about the winter bat activity in Bulgaria, which poses challenges in monitoring potential deviations in their behaviour as a consequence of the warming climate. Using passive acoustic monitoring, we investigated the winter activity in some of Europe’s largest hibernacula. Our findings reveal cave and species-specific activity patterns. Activity was observed throughout each month of the survey, with distinct peaks on specific days. At one high-elevation site, bat activity was restricted to a single night, while the highest overall activity occurred at the highest elevation site (1325 m). The most active species was Myotis capaccinii (Bonaparte, 1837). While bats were mostly active right after sunset following their usual circadian rhythm, some daytime activity was also observed, including emergence at temperatures as low as -8°C. At sites with sufficient activity data, external temperature emerged as a significant positive predictor of bat activity, with higher temperatures associated with increased activity. Our data also suggest that bats rarely forage near the roost entrances. The observed variability in activity levels between study sites highlights the need for high-resolution, site-specific data rather than broad generalisations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ae40d3e107ab49a79d6ab9b9ee1d68eb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1314-2828 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Pensoft Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biodiversity Data Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-ae40d3e107ab49a79d6ab9b9ee1d68eb2025-01-26T08:30:29ZengPensoft PublishersBiodiversity Data Journal1314-28282025-01-011312510.3897/BDJ.13.e141801141801Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernaculaNia Toshkova0Maksim Kolev1Stanimira Deleva2Tzvetan Simeonov3Vasil Popov4Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of SciencesNational Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of SciencesNational Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of SciencesMeteorological Observatory Lindenberg, Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD)Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of SciencesLittle is known about the winter bat activity in Bulgaria, which poses challenges in monitoring potential deviations in their behaviour as a consequence of the warming climate. Using passive acoustic monitoring, we investigated the winter activity in some of Europe’s largest hibernacula. Our findings reveal cave and species-specific activity patterns. Activity was observed throughout each month of the survey, with distinct peaks on specific days. At one high-elevation site, bat activity was restricted to a single night, while the highest overall activity occurred at the highest elevation site (1325 m). The most active species was Myotis capaccinii (Bonaparte, 1837). While bats were mostly active right after sunset following their usual circadian rhythm, some daytime activity was also observed, including emergence at temperatures as low as -8°C. At sites with sufficient activity data, external temperature emerged as a significant positive predictor of bat activity, with higher temperatures associated with increased activity. Our data also suggest that bats rarely forage near the roost entrances. The observed variability in activity levels between study sites highlights the need for high-resolution, site-specific data rather than broad generalisations.https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/141801/download/pdf/winter activityacoustic monitoringbatshibern |
| spellingShingle | Nia Toshkova Maksim Kolev Stanimira Deleva Tzvetan Simeonov Vasil Popov Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula Biodiversity Data Journal winter activity acoustic monitoring bats hibern |
| title | Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula |
| title_full | Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula |
| title_fullStr | Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula |
| title_full_unstemmed | Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula |
| title_short | Winter is (not) coming: Acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula |
| title_sort | winter is not coming acoustic monitoring and temperature variation across important bat hibernacula |
| topic | winter activity acoustic monitoring bats hibern |
| url | https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/141801/download/pdf/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT niatoshkova winterisnotcomingacousticmonitoringandtemperaturevariationacrossimportantbathibernacula AT maksimkolev winterisnotcomingacousticmonitoringandtemperaturevariationacrossimportantbathibernacula AT stanimiradeleva winterisnotcomingacousticmonitoringandtemperaturevariationacrossimportantbathibernacula AT tzvetansimeonov winterisnotcomingacousticmonitoringandtemperaturevariationacrossimportantbathibernacula AT vasilpopov winterisnotcomingacousticmonitoringandtemperaturevariationacrossimportantbathibernacula |