HABITAT USE AND SPECIES RICHNESS OF BATS IN A PATCHY LANDSCAPE

Habitat destruction and fragmentation caused by modern forestry and agriculture are some of the main problems for the long-term survival of many species. In this study, a bat community of 11 species was investigated with the objective to evaluate the impacts of patch size, distance between habitat patches and habitat quality on species number, and also to investigate the use of corridors. Habitat islands, varying in size from 0.1 to 98.7 ha, in an agriculture-dominated landscape were surveyed. Habitat use by four species: Myotis brandti (Eversmann, 1845), M. nattereri (Kuhl, 1818), Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber, 1774), and Plecotus auritus (Linnaeus, 1758), was recorded in detail. In a stepwise multiple regression species number was found to be positively related to the area of deciduous woodland, but not to the area of coniferous forest or the distance to the continuous forest. Three of the four study species avoided all:kinds of open habitats. Corridors were used as hunting habitats. Different hypotheses, that might explain behaviour in open habitats are discussed.