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Environmental variables do not explain the high size fluctuations in Rhinolophus euryale pre-hibernating aggregation

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Abstract

The Mediterranean horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus euryale, creates in the pre-hibernation period an aggregation in the Domica cave (Slovakia) and despite the harsh winter conditions displays a certain amount of flying activity. The goal of the study was to find out whether some environmental factors influence these conspicuous aggregation dynamics. We used image and statistical analysis of pictures of the aggregation taken automatically in the cave along with atmospheric pressure, humidity, outside and inside cave temperature and oxygen and carbon dioxide contents in the cave. These environmental variables were assumed to explain the observed activity. We hypothesised that the number of bats in particular time periods would correlate with some of these variables, but this was not confirmed. The only significant relations confirmed were those between bat numbers and humidity and carbon dioxide values in the cave. No trend in the spatial positioning of the bats was observed, and no environmental factors influenced the numbers, movements or groupings of bats. On the contrary, bats by their presence (breathing), activity and production of excrements may significantly influence the microclimate of the cave environment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Slovak Cave Administration for their support of surveillance in the Domica cave system. The work on this study was funded by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency VEGA (grant numbers 2/0077/17, 1/0298/19).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Košice, Slovakia

    Marcel Uhrin, Mária Sabolíková & Edita Maxinová

  2. Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Zvolen, Slovakia

    Ladislav Naďo

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  1. Marcel Uhrin
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Correspondence to Marcel Uhrin.

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Uhrin, M., Sabolíková, M., Naďo, L. et al. Environmental variables do not explain the high size fluctuations in Rhinolophus euryale pre-hibernating aggregation. Biologia 75, 1657–1665 (2020). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-020-00428-8

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