Spatio-temporal utilisation of roosts by the parti-coloured bat Vespertilio murinus L., 1758 in Switzerland ...

• Main Authors: Jaberg, C., Blant, J.-D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2003
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Vespertilio murinus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13449334; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13449334

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) The spatial distribution of roosts in relation to foraging habitats has never been investigated for Vespertilio murinus and the nocturnal roosts used by this species remain unknown. In order to improve knowledge of the species' ecology and to provide tools for its conservation, we mapped each known day roost of a breeding population located at the western limits of the species' distribution and measured the shortest distance between the roosting sites and the foraging habitats. We also radio-tracked 7 females in different reproductive states in order to identify, to quantify the utilisation and to assess the biological importance of their nocturnal roosts. Our results revealed that the day roosts were located close to a large lake and that the bats roosted mainly in trees of a riparian forest during the night. Implications for the conservation of this bat species are discussed. ...