Izorratu gabe ikertzea: PIT Tagen erabilera Euskal Herriko saguzar kabernikoletan

Abstract

Bats constitute the second most diverse mammal order, Chiroptera. Research and management of free-ranging bats ordinarily require the identification of individuals. To do so, there are several marking methods. Among them, PIT tags allow passively detecting the animals, but due to the low detection range of the antennas, their usage has been limited to bats that roost in rock crevices. Here, we present the first work in Europe that implements PIT tag for the study of cave-dwelling bats. Our homemade antennas showed great detectability, in fact Jolly-Seber models showed detectability values higher than 99 % for Rhinolophus euryale and Myotis myotis. Yearling survival rate was lower than adult survival rate; besides, survivorship of yearling bats varied substantially between years. Regarding philopatry, in R. euryale males and females were highly philopatric, while only the females returned to their natal colony in M. myotis. Finally, we recorded several long distance movements of yearlings of Miniopterus schreibersii.