Henry Schofield, Vida Zrnčić, Stuart Newson, Daniela Hamidović, Chris Damant. A review of the conservation status, distribution and ecology of Plecotus kolombatovici Ðulić, 1980, with additional new information on its echolocation, roosting and foraging from Lokrum Island, Croatia. Journal of Bat Research in the Balkans Godina VIII, Br. 2, 2023

Plecotus kolombatovici Ðulić, 1980 was given full species status in 2008. However, it was still being combined with a sister species P. gaisleri until 2020, which caused confusion in determining its true distribution and status. Studies of the roosting and foraging of this species are very limited, and little has been reported on its echolocation calls.

In this paper, we review the history of the identification of this species, its current distributional data, and former studies of its roosting and foraging ecology. In addition, we present new data on roosting, foraging and echolocation of this species from the Croatian island of Lokrum, and discuss the status and conservation needs of P. kolombatovici more widely.

Key words: Chiroptera, Plecotus kolombatovici, ecology, echolocation, Lokrum island

Photo: Kolombatovici’s bat ©Daniel Hargreaves

Finch, D. et al. (2020). Traffic noise playback reduces the activity and feeding behaviour of free-living bats

Using a Before-After-Control-Impact phantom road experimental
design, we examine the impacts of traffic noise on bat activity and feeding behaviour.

Finch, D. et al. (2020). Modelling the functional connectivity of landscapes for greater horseshoe bats Rhinolophus ferrumequinum at a local scale

This paper examine functional connectivity of greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) at a local scale using Circuitscape software.

Von Tomasz Kokurewicz, Grzegorz Apoznański, Ralf Gyselings, Lucinda Kirkpatrick, Luc De Bruyn, John Haddow, Anita Glover, Henry Schofield, Christiane Schmidt, Fons Bongers, Laura Torrent & Alek Rachwald (2019) 45 years of bat study and conservation in Nietoperek bat reserve (Western Poland)

According to the data of the EUROBATS Agreement, a deserted system of World War Two defensive tunnels in northwest Poland is now ranked in top 10 largest bat hibernation sites in Europe with numbers of hibernating bats exceeding 39,000 individuals in some years. This paper highlights the research over 45 years to survey the bat species using these underground tunnels.

Using photographs to count the large clusters of hibernating bats. Photo: ©Henry Schofield