Protection of the Szachownica cave as an example of saving a valuable bat wintering shelter

Abstract

The Szachownica cave (Krakow-Wielun Upland, Poland) is one of the four largest wintering shelters for bats in Poland. Since the cessation of limestone mining, the number of wintering bats increased from 300 to more than 2,900 individuals. In recent years, there has been seen a gradual worsening of the cave structure due to frost destruction, which leads to the possible disintegration of a major part of the cave. To prevent damage of the cave the mining methods were used, because they can i) restrict access to the bats shelters, and ii) change microclimate. Monitoring of the abundance of bats was carried out twice during a winter: in end of January and in March. The temperature was measured in 3 points in the cave and in 1 outside. Securing the cave: i) only in minor degree changed the temperature amplitude, but not the mean temperature, whereas penetration of water (and also frost damage) was limited, ii) did not change either the species composition or species-specific long-term trends in the amount of bats hibernating in the cave. However, to assess fully the impact of changes, monitoring of both the bat fauna and microclimate will be continued during the next several years.

Keywords

• bats
• hibernation
• microclimate
• protection
• Szachownica cave