The emergence time and flight routes used by lesser horseshoe bats of Radziechowy colony (Poland)

Lesser horseshoes are bats quite strongly attached to their roost sites and are considered as sedentary species avoiding long-distance migration. In Poland, the range of occurrence of the lesser horseshoe bat is restricted to mountain areas, where they prefer overgrown mountain streams for their feeding grounds. Due to these features, even seemingly small habitat changes are likely to have serious implications for maintaining local subpopulations of this rare and endangered species. In Radziechowy village, where trees were cut in the Wieśnik stream (bat feeding area), a change in the use of feeding grounds by lesser horseshoe bats was observed. This publication additionally describes the time and the manner of departure of bats from their roost. The study was conducted before the logging (2012) and immediately after the logging (2013–2016), near a church, from the most beneficial point. The study was conducted by a team of 2–3 members, starting each time 15 minutes before sunset and finishing after the bats departure. Lesser horseshoe bats avoid light and open space and they leave their roost in a complicated way. It is established that there is a statistically significant correlation (r = 0.992, p < 0.001) between sunset and emergence time of bats from the roost site. In this paper, during the emergence time, the weather influence was observed. On a cloudy day, an earlier emergence time was observed — 9 minutes after the sunset, while the average emergence time for all observations was 23.3 minutes. The conducted detector watches proved that bats most likely use the closest environment of the colony within a radius of 150–200 meters. Lesser horseshoe bats were observed in ditches of roadside trees, dense hedges and backyard orchards overgrown with apples and pears, which is typical for this species.Підковики малі досить тісно пов’язані з місцями ночівлі і цей вид кажанів вважають осілим, що уникає дальні міграції. У Польщі ареал поширення підковика малого обмежений гірськими районами, де серед місць живлення надають перевагу зарослим гірським потокам. Завдяки цьому навіть незначні, на перший погляд, зміни біотопів можуть призвести до серйозних наслідків щодо підтримання локальних субпопуляцій цього рідкісного виду. У селі Радзехови, де уздовж потоку В’єшнік (місце живлення кажанів) вирубали дерева, виявлено зміни у використанні територій живлення та у появі кажанів із місць ночівлі. Дослідження проведено до (2012) та після (2013–2016) рубки дерев командою із 2–3 членів біля церкви з найбільш вигідної точки. Спостереження розпочали кожного разу за 15 хвилин до заходу сонця і закінчили після виходу кажанів. Підковики малі уникають світлі та відкриті місця і вони виходять з місця ночівлі складним способом. Визначено, що існує статистично вірогідна кореляція (r = 0,992, p < 0,001) між часом заходу сонця та появи кажанів із місця ночівлі. У цій роботі також розглянуто вплив погоди на час виходу кажанів. Зокрема, спостережено більш рання поява кажанів у похмурий день — за 9 хв після заходу сонця, при цьому середній час виходу за всі спостереження становив 23,3 хв. Проведені детекторні дослідження показали, що кажани використовують найближче оточення колонії у радіусі 150–200 метрів. Підковиків малих спостерігали у дуплах придорожніх дерев, густих живоплотах та садах з яблунею і грушею, що типово для цього виду

A microsatellite study in the Łęgucki Młyn/Popielno hybrid zone reveals no genetic differentiation between two chromosome races of the common shrew (Sorex araneus)

This study investigated a chromosome hybrid zone between two chromosomal races of the common shrew (Sorex araneus). Gene flow and genetic structure of the hybrid zone, located in the northeast of Poland, were studied using seven polymorphic autosomal microsatellite loci (L9, L14, L33, L45, L67, L68, L97) and a Y-linked microsatellite locus (L8Y). Seventy-five animals (46 of the Łęgucki Młyn race and 29 of the Popielno race) from nine different localities were examined and the data were analyzed using hierarchical AMOVA and F-statistic. The studied microsatellite loci and races (divided into nine geographical populations) were characterized by observed heterozygosity (HO), expected heterozygosities within (HS), and between (HT) populations, inbreeding coefficient (FIS), fixation index (FST), and average allelic richness (A). We found that genetic structuring within and between the two chromosome races were weak and non-significant. This finding and unconstrained gene flow between the races indicates a high level of migration within the Łęgucki Młyn/Popielno hybrid zone, suggesting that evolutionarily important genetic structuring does not occur in interracial zones where races which are not genetically distinct come into contact

Effect of winter conditions on wild ungulates mortality in the Owl Mountains (Poland)

Relations between climatic factors during the winter season (n days with frost 1 cm, >10 cm and >30 cm; maximum snow cover during season [cm]) and mortality in free-living ungulates (red deer Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758, roe deer Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758 and mouflon Ovis aries musimon Linnaeus, 1758) in the Owl Mountains (Lower Silesia – Poland) in years 1998–2010 were investigated. Significant effects of all analysed climatic factors on ungulates mortality were documented. Correlations (Pearson) between such weather factors as the depth of snow cover and number of days with frost and recorded mortality in total animal populations analysed ranged from r = 0.33 to r = 0.77. The least adapted to local weather conditions was mouflon introduced to this area ca. 100 years ago from more southern parts of Europe. Roe deer species seems to be environmentally plastic, and are doing quite well in severe winters. Tolerance of red deer to the snow cover is much lower at low temperatures due to the fact that this species, during the period of snow cover, has limited access to the plants covered with snow and difficult access to food base