Seasonal Activity of Urban Bats Populations in Temperate Climate Zone-A Case Study from Southern Poland.

Municipal greenery can mitigate the negative impact of urbanization on biodiversity, including bats, by providing a migration corridor, food base and roosts. Our study aimed to evaluate the species composition and diversity, test the differences in activity between seasons, and identify the atmospheric conditions influencing the bats' activity in the Planty Park (Cracow). Fieldworks were conducted in 2016 and 2017. We recorded 10 species, two new for this part of Poland: the Kuhl's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii) and the Savi's pipistrelle (Hypsugo savii). Taxa were divided into three ecological guilds. Myotis group's activity was insufficient to perform statistical analyses. The activity of Nyctalus, Eptesicus and Vespertilio group peaked in late summer. A similar insignificant trend was observed for Pipistrellus and Hypsugo. Temperature enhanced the activity of Nyctalus, Eptesicus and Vespertilio group in spring and early summer, while cloud cover suppressed their activity in autumn. Temperature also enhanced Pipistrellus and Hypsugo group activity in spring and autumn, but it suppressed their summer activity. Our study is one of the first to investigate temperate urban bats' phenology and may serve as a preface for further research to introduce detailed urban landscape planning recommendations.

Diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species in Ixodes ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) associated with cave-dwelling bats from Poland and Romania.

Bats comprise one quarter of the world's mammal species. In Europe, three nidicolous Ixodes tick species, I. vespertilionis, I. simplex and I. ariadnae are specifically associated with cave-dwelling bats, but their role as potential vectors of zoonotic agents is unknown. In this study, we used PCR-based methods to provide the first evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) infections in the three bat-associated tick species collected from ten bat species sampled in Poland and Romania. B. burgdorferi s.l. was detected in 24% (64/266) of tick samples, and 40.3% (60/149) of the bats carried infected chiropterophilic ticks. In Poland, the B. burgdorferi s.l. infection prevelance of I. ariadnae ticks parasitizing Myotis species was four times higher compared to the I. vespertilionis ticks derived from Rhinolophus hipposideros bats (44.4% vs.10%, respectively). The observed differences in infection prevalence could be explained by differences in reservoir potential between bat species. Bats from the genus Myotis and Miniopterus schreibersii carried more infected ticks than R. hipposideros regardless of the tick species. Analysis of the flaB gene sequences revealed seven species from the B. burgdorferi s.l. complex (B. afzelii, B. carolinensis, B. garinii, B. lanei, B. spielmanii, B. burgdorferi s.s., and B. valaisiana), of which five are considered as human pathogens. This large diversity of Borrelia species may reflect differences in susceptibility of chiropteran hosts and/or the tick vectors. Generally, mammal-associated B. burgdorferi s.l. species were more common than bird-associated species. Our study provides evidence for new enzootic transmission cycles of B. burgdorferi s.l. spirochetes involving nidicolous Ixodes tick species and cave-dwelling bats.

Spinturnix dasycnemi (Acari: Spinturnicidae) ­ a poorly known Palaearctic bat mite: first records in Poland and morphometric separation from two other species of the myoti group

Spinturnix dasycnemi (Kolenati, 1856), an ectoparasite considered to be specific to rare and local bat species Myotis dasycneme (Boie, 1825), is reported for the first time in the fauna of Poland. Specimens were collected from M. dasycneme at two localities in the north and central parts of the country. In Europe, only two males of that poorly known mite species have been recorded recently from the Netherlands and Slovakia, while spinturnicids from pond bats were identified as S. andegavina and/or S. myoti in most of previous studies. The exact geographic distribution of S. dasycnemi is unknown, mainly due to the possibility of its common confusion with other mite species, but it may occur in all countries hosting populations of M. dasycneme. We show that specimens of both sexes of S. dasycnemi are morphometrically clearly separable from those of S. myoti and S. andegavina, even based on a combination of idiosoma length and dorsal shield length.

Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and spotted fever group rickettsiae in hard ticks (Acari, Ixodidae) parasitizing bats in Poland.

A total of 491 Ixodes vespertilionis and 8 Ixodes ricinus collected from bats and cave walls in southern Poland between 2010 and 2012 were examined by the polymerase chain reaction for tick-transmitted pathogens. PCR analysis for Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., Rickettsia spp., and Anaplasma phagocytophilum yielded negative results for all I. vespertilionis. DNA of Rickettsia helvetica was detected in three specimens of I. ricinus attached to Rhinolophus hipposideros or Myotis myotis, while Borrelia garinii was found in one tick parasitizing Myotis daubentonii. These pathogens were recorded for the first time in hard ticks that parasitized bats.

The patterns of seasonal activity of Ixodes vespertilionis (Acari: Ixodidae) on Rhinolophus hipposideros in nursery colonies.

The aim of this study was to describe the dynamics of the long-legged bat tick Ixodes vespertilionis infestation on the lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros in 2 nursery colonies roosting in attics. Out of a total of 810 lesser horseshoe bats examined, 217 (26.8%) were found to be infested with a total of 464 I. vespertilionis individuals. The developmental stage most frequently found was the larva, followed by the nymph, and the adult female. Bats were significantly more frequently infested with I. vespertilionis ticks in the period April to May than in other months. In these months, all tick developmental stages were observed. During summer and autumn, only immature developmental stages were recorded, whilst in September and October larvae predominated. Considerable differences in tick load between nursery colonies were observed. The length of seasonal presence on bats, prevalence, and infestation intensity of I. vespertilionis on lesser horseshoe bats were higher in the nursery colony situated in close vicinity of a cave than in the colony situated far from the caves. The results suggest that the pattern of seasonal infestation of ticks on bats roosting in nursery colonies coincides with the seasonal activity of Rh. hipposideros in the caves. The first case of mixed infestation of the lesser horseshoe bat with I. vespertilionis and I. ricinus were also recorded.

Nonlinear distribution pattern of hibernating bats in caves along an elevational gradient in mountain (Carpathians, Southern Poland).

BACKGROUND: Thermal gradients along changes in elevation in mountainous environments are reflected by different biotas. Although there have been studies of elevation variation in bat assemblages in summer, winter changes in the same gradients remain unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The objective of this study was to document changes in the species composition of bats hibernating in caves along a temperate elevational gradient. We studied 70 caves between from 300 m to 1,930 m altitude along a slope of the Carpathian Mountains in southern Poland. We recorded changes in bats, including species richness, abundance, altitudinal distribution and dominance during consecutive winters between 2003 and 2009. Similarity of dominance of faunal structure was assessed by using the Bray-Curtis similarity index. We used the generalised additive model and rarefaction to study the variation in species richness, and generalized additive mixed models to examine the effect of abiotic factors on the qualitative and quantitative structure of bat assemblages. During 351 surveys we recorded 13,856 hibernating bats from 15 species. Species richness peaked around mid-elevation (1,100-1,400 m a.s.l.) with richness declining at both higher and lower elevations. Based on the results of a cluster analysis, we could distinguish among four altitudinal zones that differed in species richness and dominance structure. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study documenting changes in species richness and variation of structure of bats hibernating in caves along an elevational gradient. The most surprising and key finding is the fact that changes in the structure of assemblages of hibernating bats along the altitudinal gradient occurred in jumps, forming zones similar to those observed in the vegetation zones. Moreover, species richness and dominance structure of assemblages of hibernating bats in the mountains depended not only on location above sea level, but also on local geomorphologic conditions which strongly affected the microclimate of the caves.

First record of Spinturnix bechsteini (Acari: Mesostigmata: Spinturnicidae) from Poland with remarks on the diagnostic value of some characters.

Spinturnix bechsteini Deunff et al., 2004 (Acari: Spinturnicidae) associated with Myotis bechsteinii (Kuhl, 1817) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) is reported for the first time from Poland. The usefulness of some morphological features for differentiating S. bechsteini from other spinturnicid mites belonging to the myoti group was studied. The mite fauna occurring on M. bechsteinii, the only host of S. bechsteini, are very poorly known. In Poland only five species have been found.

Hybridization hotspots at bat swarming sites.

During late summer and early autumn in temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, thousands of bats gather at caves, mainly for the purpose of mating. We demonstrated that this swarming behavior most probably leads not only to breeding among bats of the same species but also interbreeding between different species. Using 14 nuclear microsatellites and three different methods (the Bayesian assignment approaches of STRUCTURE and NEWHYBRIDS and a principal coordinate analysis of pairwise genetic distances), we analyzed 375 individuals belonging to three species of whiskered bats (genus Myotis) at swarming sites across their sympatric range in southern Poland. The overall hybridization rate varied from 3.2 to 7.2%. At the species level, depending on the method used, these values ranged from 2.1-4.6% in M. mystacinus and 3.0-3.7% in M. brandtii to 6.5-30.4% in M. alcathoe. Hybrids occurred in about half of the caves we studied. In all three species, the sex ratio of hybrids was biased towards males but the observed differences did not differ statistically from those noted at the population level. In our opinion, factors leading to the formation of these admixed individuals and their relatively high frequency are: i) swarming behaviour at swarming sites, where high numbers of bats belonging to several species meet; ii) male-biased sex ratio during the swarming period; iii) the fact that all these bats are generally polygynous. The highly different population sizes of different species at swarming sites may also play some role. Swarming sites may represent unique hybrid hotspots, which, as there are at least 2,000 caves in the Polish Carpathians alone, may occur on a massive scale not previously observed for any group of mammal species in the wild. Evidently, these sites should be treated as focal points for the conservation of biodiversity and evolutionary processes.

Argasid and spinturnicid mite load on swarming bats in the Tatra Mountains, Poland.

Altogether 445 bats, representing nine species, caught during swarming in the Lodowa Cave in Mount Ciemniak, Western Tatra Mountains, southern Poland, were examined for ectoparasitic mites. In total, 259 spinturnicid (Spinturnix mystacina, S. andegavinus, S. kolenatii, S. plecotinus and S. myoti) and 95 argasid (Carios vespertilionis) mites were collected from seven bat species, Myotis myotis, M. mystacinus, M. brandtii, M. daubentonii, Eptesicus nilssonii, Plecotus auritus, and Vespertilio murinus. There were sex-based differences in the prevalence of mites in some hosts but no differences in their mean intensity and there was no observed relationship between the number of mites and the condition of the bats. The prevalence of mites differed significantly between years in E. nilssonii. The results suggested a very low mite load on swarming bats that had no impact on the body condition of bats.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodida) parasitizing bats in Poland and Slovakia.

We summarize the previously published reports and the results of our own research about distribution of ticks parasitizing bats in Poland and Slovakia. Five species of ticks infesting bats were recorded: Carios vespertilionis, Ixodes (E.) vespertilionis, I. (P.) simplex, I. (I.) ricinus and I. (Ex.) trianguliceps. Two last species were observed only on bats in Poland. C. vespertilionis, I. vespertilionis and I. simplex are specific parasites of bats. C. vespertilionis was recorded on 37 sites in Poland and 7 in Slovakia. Fourteen species of bats in Poland and 5 in Slovakia were parasitized by this species. I. vespertilionis was collected from 6 bat species both in Poland and Slovakia respectively on 22 and 11 sites, respectively. The remaining species have been reported very rarely.