Distribution, Dominance Structure, Species Richness, and Diversity of Bats in Disturbed and Undisturbed Temperate Mountain Forests

Krzysztof Piksa,Tomasz Brzuskowski,Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica

doi:10.3390/f13010056

Krzysztof Piksa, Tomasz Brzuskowski + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/f13010056

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Abstract

The increase in mean annual temperature and reduction in summer rainfall from climate change seem to increase the frequency of natural and human-made disturbances to forest vegetation. This type of rapid vegetation change also significantly affects bat diversity. The aim of our study was to document differences in the ecological parameters of bat assemblages in different types of temperate mountain forests, particularly between disturbed and undisturbed coniferous and deciduous forests. Additionally, these issues were considered along an elevation gradient. We mist netted bats on 73 sites, between 931 and 1453 m elevation, in the forests of the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland. During 2016–2020, 745 bats, representing 15 species, were caught. The most abundant were Myotis mystacinus (Kuhl, 1817) (53.0%) and M. brandtii (Eversmann, 1845) (21.5%). We observed differences in species diversity, elevational distribution, and dominance between different types of forests and forest zones. Species richness peaked at around 1000–1100 m elevation. The highest species richness and other indices were observed in undisturbed beech stands, although they constituted only about 2.7% of the forest area. The lowest species diversity was observed in disturbed coniferous forests, in both the lower and upper forest zone. The species richness and dominance structure of bat assemblages were also found to depend on the location above sea level. In some bat species, the sex ratio was higher at higher elevations, and differences in the sex ratio in a few bat species, between different types of forests, were observed. Our findings suggest that disturbed, beetle-killed spruce forests are an unsuitable environment for some bat species.

Highlights

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralBats are excellent indicators of measurable responses to environmental stressors that reflect the health of an entire ecosystem [1,2]
Tatra Mountains, spanning southern Poland and northern Slovakia, form the highest range of the Carpathian massif, which is the highest point between the Alps and the Caucasus, and the highest between Scandinavia and the Balkan Peninsula
The mountains are, an important area in the context of biodiversity protection, which is ensured by two national parks: Tatrzański Park Narodowy (TPN) in Poland, and Tatranský

Summary

Introduction

Bats are excellent indicators of measurable responses to environmental stressors that reflect the health of an entire ecosystem [1,2]. The main tree species covering large mountain areas of Central Europe are European beech Fagus sylvatica L. and Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) Karst. The latter naturally prefer higher elevations, where spruce-dominated high-mountain forests occur [16,17]. Forests at lower elevations, dominated by deciduous species, have historically been much more intensively exploited These changes have affected stands comprising beech. In the case of this species, the area and age of beech stands have decreased significantly, and coniferous stands have often been planted in their place

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