Analysis of bat roadkills in Sviati Hory National Nature Park based on data of a 10 years long research

Abstract

The article presents the results of a 10 years long research on roadkills in Sviati Hory National Nature Park. The research was held in 2006–2016. In total, 24 roadkilled bats belonging to 9 species were found: Myotis nattereri, Myotis daubentoni, Plecotus auritus, Nyctalus noctula, Pipistrellus kuhlii, Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Pipistrellus nathusii, Eptesicus serotinus, and Vespertilio murinus. All roadkilled specimens were recorded during the summer-autumn period, from June until November. The most frequent roadkills are the brown long-eared bat and two pipistrelle species. The negative impact of roads on populations of bats may not be significant in this region. Monitoring of roads on the subject of dead animals may be useful for the registration of finds of rare species and for collecting materials of species with high conservation status.

Keywords

• Sviaty Hory National Nature Park
• roadkills
• bats