Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps
Weather conditions can influence the hibernation behaviour of temperate cave-dwelling bats that are tolerant to low temperatures, and their number can be correlated with weather variables. In this work a first assessment on the correlation between the number of individuals of three species of hibern...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6e56bb190d4742978493a80265ad483d 2024-02-04T09:59:10+01:00 Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps Roberto Toffoli 2021-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/6e56bb190d4742978493a80265ad483d EN eng University of Kansas Libraries https://journals.ku.edu/EuroJEcol/article/view/15560 https://doaj.org/toc/1339-8474 1339-8474 https://doaj.org/article/6e56bb190d4742978493a80265ad483d European Journal of Ecology, Vol 7, Iss 2 (2021) Chiroptera hibernaculum annual changes climatic variable temperate bats Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles 2024-01-07T01:46:10Z Weather conditions can influence the hibernation behaviour of temperate cave-dwelling bats that are tolerant to low temperatures, and their number can be correlated with weather variables. In this work a first assessment on the correlation between the number of individuals of three species of hibernating bats (Barbastella barbastellus, Myotis emarginatus and Rhinolophus hipposideros) and the environmental weather conditions before the survey was carried out is provided for two hibernacula of the Italian Western Alps. For the B. barbastellus, a significant inverse correlation was observed between the number of bats detected and the average daily temperature for thirty days preceding the count (p= 0.036) and ten days before counting (p= 0.036). A significant positive correlation was observed for M. emarginatus between the number of individuals and the average daily temperatures for thirty days preceding the count (p= 0.018). For R. hipposideros, a significant inverse correlation was observed with the average daily temperatures for the ten days before the count (p= 0.048) and the differences in the maximum and minimum temperature of the ten days preceding the count (p= 0.002). Results of this study show how the ambient temperatures before a count can influence the number of bats present in hibernacula. This confirms how the abundance of bats at underground hibernating sites can be used as an indicator of climate change, as temperature is an important factor controlling hibernation, although further studies are needed in order to better evaluate how the climatic variables interact with each other in regulating the number of bats in the hibernacula. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barbastella barbastellus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
Chiroptera hibernaculum annual changes climatic variable temperate bats Ecology QH540-549.5 |
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Chiroptera hibernaculum annual changes climatic variable temperate bats Ecology QH540-549.5 Roberto Toffoli Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps |
topic_facet |
Chiroptera hibernaculum annual changes climatic variable temperate bats Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Weather conditions can influence the hibernation behaviour of temperate cave-dwelling bats that are tolerant to low temperatures, and their number can be correlated with weather variables. In this work a first assessment on the correlation between the number of individuals of three species of hibernating bats (Barbastella barbastellus, Myotis emarginatus and Rhinolophus hipposideros) and the environmental weather conditions before the survey was carried out is provided for two hibernacula of the Italian Western Alps. For the B. barbastellus, a significant inverse correlation was observed between the number of bats detected and the average daily temperature for thirty days preceding the count (p= 0.036) and ten days before counting (p= 0.036). A significant positive correlation was observed for M. emarginatus between the number of individuals and the average daily temperatures for thirty days preceding the count (p= 0.018). For R. hipposideros, a significant inverse correlation was observed with the average daily temperatures for the ten days before the count (p= 0.048) and the differences in the maximum and minimum temperature of the ten days preceding the count (p= 0.002). Results of this study show how the ambient temperatures before a count can influence the number of bats present in hibernacula. This confirms how the abundance of bats at underground hibernating sites can be used as an indicator of climate change, as temperature is an important factor controlling hibernation, although further studies are needed in order to better evaluate how the climatic variables interact with each other in regulating the number of bats in the hibernacula. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Roberto Toffoli |
author_facet |
Roberto Toffoli |
author_sort |
Roberto Toffoli |
title |
Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps |
title_short |
Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps |
title_full |
Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps |
title_fullStr |
Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western Italian Alps |
title_sort |
relationship between external weather conditions and number of hibernating bats in two caves in the western italian alps |
publisher |
University of Kansas Libraries |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/6e56bb190d4742978493a80265ad483d |
genre |
Barbastella barbastellus |
genre_facet |
Barbastella barbastellus |
op_source |
European Journal of Ecology, Vol 7, Iss 2 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://journals.ku.edu/EuroJEcol/article/view/15560 https://doaj.org/toc/1339-8474 1339-8474 https://doaj.org/article/6e56bb190d4742978493a80265ad483d |
_version_ |
1789963830772629504 |