Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Válogatott tanulmányok X. - Natura Somogyiensis 25. (Kaposvár, 2014)
Winkler D. - Erdő Á. - Mille J. - Kovács H.: New data on the distribution of Barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus) in Western Hungary
Natura Somogyiensis 25 213-218 Kaposvár, 2014 New data on the distribution of barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus) in Western Hungary Dániel Winkler1, Ádám Erdő1, János Mille2 & Hajnalka Kovács2 'University of West Hungary, Institute of Wildlife Management and Vertebrate Zoology H-9400 Sopron, Ady E. u. 5., Hungary, e-mail: dwinkler@emk.nyme.hu -Somogy Provincial Association for Nature Conservation, H-8708 Somogyfajsz, Kossuth u. 62., e-mail: mille.janos@gmail.com Winkler, D., Erdő Á, Mille, J. & Kovács, H.: New data on the distribution of barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus) in Western Hungary. Abstract: Acoustic bat surveys have been carried out between end of April and mid-September of 2013 in several Natura 2000 sites of Vas and Somogy counties. As a result occurrences of barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus) were detected in 9 out of the 12 surveyed Natura 2000 sites. The species was recorded in various riverine and floodland forest communities, such as ash-alder forests, willow-poplar forests and oak-elm-ash forests, as well, as in lowland pedunculate oak-hornbeam woodlands. A total of 17 new UTM 10x10 km2 squares with barbastelle bat occurrence have been added to the 10 formerly known squares in Vas and Somogy counties. The results show a possible expansion of this species in lowland woodland areas, which requires appropriate guidelines for forest management in the affected sites. Keywords: acoustic bat survey, Barbastella barbastellus occurrence, Natura 2000, forest management Introduction The barbastelle bat [Barbastella barbastellus (Schreber, 1774)] is regarded as one of the rare and strictly protected bat species in Hungary. Distributed throughout Europe, from England, Sweden and Latvia in the north, to the Mediterranean. It is also present on various Mediterranean islands and reaches North Africa in Morocco. The eastern border of the distribution area is located in the Caucasus (Urbanczyk 1999, Schober 2004, Dietz et al. 2009). The barbastelle bat is protected in the European Union under Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC. In Hungary, the species mostly prefers submontane forest habitats, where it is more common in large, continuous old forest stands (Szatyor 2000, Bihari 2007). It also occurs, with lower density, in lowland areas (Bihari 2007, Görföl & Dombi 2009), where it also prefers old, close-to-nature forests (Görföl & Estók 2014). With technological development bat detectors became widely used in the 21st century. It is now easier and more feasible to define the distribution of a wide range of bat species with recording acoustic communication and hunting calls of bats than any other method. Dombi (2005) recorded the barbastelle bat in lowland areas along the Dráva River while, after long decades of absence, Szatyor (2005) newly detected it in the Őrség along the Rába River.
