THE IMPORTANCE OF LONG-TERM MONITORING OF BAT POPULATIONS
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2005 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Xth European Bat Research Symposium, 21-26 August 2005 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Zoology |
| Keywords | monitoring; long-term |
| Description | Biological monitoring, here understood as a regular and systematic use of organisms, has been applied to bats in various ways. Examples are selected with the aim to display the diversity in monitoring that, directly or indirectly, concerns bat populations. Important data on longevity, migrality, and changes in bat numbers resulted from large scale bat banding programmes. Discussed are results of long-term netting or trapping of bats at the sea coast and of monitoring based on the survey of bat boxes. There is a large variety of other monitoring targets including the foraging activity of bats, collecting and analysing bat droppings, and recording the species and numbers of bats killed by wind turbines. Most monitoring programmes have been focussed on changes in numbers of individuals within large summer and winter roosts. In 1991, the European Co-ordinating Panel for Bat Conservation held its meeting, methods of monitoring bats were discussed and a programme for monitoring bats in Europe was suggested and published. A much larger workshop was held in 2002 to examine the topic of monitoring populations of bats in the United States. Since 2003, monitoring has also become part of the agenda of EUROBATS and has been dealt with in the newsletter Eurobat Chat. The paper ends by giving examples of results of long-term monitoring of bats hibernating underground. In most cases the numbers of hibernating bats increased over the last 25 years when the individuals were censused without marking or similar disturbance. It appears that no general monitoring standard can be applied to all regions, all situations and all species. In spite of this, both internationally suggested monitoring schemes and national programmes are important to focus on particular target problems and/or species. |
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