The importance of small cellars to bat hibernation in Poland

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Inspections of 521 small cellars inhabited by bats in Poland revealed the occurrence of 10 species: Myotis myotis, M. nattereri, M, brandtii, M. dasycneme, M. daubentonii, Eptesicus nilssonii, E. serotinus, Plecotus auritus, P. austriacus , and Barbastella barbastellus . P. auritus was the most frequent and abundant (410 sites, 54.5% records). M. daubentonii dominated in cellars of the NW and NE regions of the country, while P. austriacus was the most abundant in the SW region. Communities of bats hibernating in small cellars and large underground hibernacula differed significantly. Plecotus spp. clearly preferred small hibernation sites, while M. myotis large ones. Species richness and diversity were highest in NW and NE region where this type of roost had greatest importance to bat hibernation. Despite the fact that only single individuals occurred in 44.7% of cellars, these roosts, common and numerous in Poland, could be in total inhabited by tens of thousands of bats yearly.