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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Main Authors: Nia Toshkova, Maksim Kolev, Stanimira Deleva, Tzvetan Simeonov, Vasil Popov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2025-01-01
Series:Biodiversity Data Journal
Subjects:
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