MINIOPTERUS SCHREIBERSII –
What is THIS CAVE-ROOSTS FLAGSHIP SPECIES
DOING IN CHURCH ATTICS?
PRIMOž PRESETNIK and MONIKA podgorelec
Centre for Cartography of Fauna and Flora, Ljubljana office, Klunova 3, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; E-mail: [email protected], monika [email protected]
Bent-winged bats (Miniopteridae) are medium
sized cave dwelling insectivorous bats of the Old
World. The only species in Europe, Miniopterus
schreibersii, is distributed in southern Europe from
Iberia to the Caucasus, south of the 48° parallel.
It is predominately found in the relatively warm
karst regions and almost exclusively roosts in large
caves. Usually large colonies of several (even as
much as ten) thousand animals can use specific
underground shelters as nursery, hibernation,
transitional or all year round roosts. It is no wonder
that Mi. schreibersii has become a flagship species
for the conservation of cave habitats for bats.
However, at the northern edge of its range in
Central Europe there had been sporadic reports
of smaller nursery colonies also inhabiting attics.
Unfortunately, these reports either referred to
roosts that no longer existed (eg. in Jennersdorf in
Austria), or no details were given. The intensive
survey of church attics, which has occurred over
*
Hutson, A.M., Aulagnier, S., Benda, P., Karataş, A., Palmeirim, J. & Paunović, M. 2008. Miniopterus schreibersii.
In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.2. www.iucnredlist.org.
the last decade in Slovenia and neighbouring
Austria, has revealed that Mi. schreibersii forms
summer roosts in three attics: in the Slovenian
village churches of Puščava and Završe and in the
priest’s house in Klöch, Austria.
Downloaded on 07 Avgust 2010.
Answer on title question is:
Miniopterus schreibersii breeds in attics.
Church of Puščava (Slovenia)
regular nursery roost
Summer
Mi. schreibersii
Myotis myotis
2008
2009
40 ad+ >> 10 juv
60 ad + >> 10 juv
330 ad + >> 100 juv 460 ad+ >> 100 juv
Church of Završe (Slovenia)
regular nursery roost
2010
> 30 ad + >> 10 juv
> 300 ad+ >> 100 juv
Summer
Mi. schreibersii
Myotis myotis
2008
2009
2010
52 ad+ >> 10 juv
230 ad + >> 10 juv
600 ad + >> 100 juv 850 ad+ >> 100 juv
These buildings share remarkably similar conditions in that all (pictures above):
A) have large windows (c. 1 m) in the attic or adjacent rooms;
B) have relatively large attic spaces;
Priest’s house in Klöch (Austria)
male roost and occasionally reproduction
Summer
Mi. schreibersii
Myotis myotis
260 ad + >> 10 juv
1120 ad+ >> 100 juv
2009
1 juv
15 ad (+ 2 juv)
200 ad + >> 100 juv 620 ad + >> 100 juv
2010
11 ad
655 ad + >> 100 juv
C) but also have a more sheltered space free of draughts (C), and;
D) importantly, all roosts were shared with large colonies of Myotis myotis.
*
CONCLUSIONS:
•Banding data shows that probably all the Mi. schreibersii from the above-mentioned attics hibernate in
one cave named Huda luknja (picture right). This could mean that these Mi. schreibersii are accustomed
to using attics as nursery roosts.
•Therefore in the adjacent region (Slovenia, Austria, Hungary and Croatia) more nursery roosts could be
expected in similar buildings especially where groups of Myotis myotis are present.
•Restoration of former roost sites destroyed in previous decades should start with establishment of large
openings in the attics.
.
2008
A c kno wl e dgeme n ts
Research was possible by the grants of Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia and Verein
Lebende Erde im Vulkanland. For field assistance we are grateful to mag. Bernard Wieser, Lea Likozar, Anamarija Žagar and
Uroš Žibrat and to managers of the buildings.