Context With over 1500 species, bats provide essential ecosystem services but face growing threats worldwide. As keystone species in cave ecosystems, they serve as bioindicators of ecosystem health. Their sensitivity to climate change and human disturbances highlights the need for long-term phenological studies. Although being well documented in Europe and North America, bat phenology remains understudied in many regions and species. Aims This study examines the annual reproductive patterns, body mass variation, and activity levels of three threatened bat species inhabiting Gora’an Cave, Safi, Morocco. Methods Over a 2-year survey, we assessed the reproductive status of mist-netted individuals by using sex-specific morphological criteria. Additionally, acoustic surveys monitored seasonal changes in flight activity at the cave entrance. Key results Two years of acoustic monitoring recorded 17,570 bat passes from eight species, with Myotis punicus (6149), Rhinolophus mehelyi (5642), and Rhinolophus blasii (5311) being the most detected. Activity patterns of M. punicus, and R. mehelyi were similar, lower in winter and higher in spring and summer. Activity increased with temperature in both species and with relative humidity in R. mehelyi. In contrast, R. blasii exhibited higher activity in winter, moderate activity in spring and autumn, and lower summer activity, which was negatively correlated with temperature. A total of 355 individuals of these three focal species were captured. Breeding was synchronized from March to May. Lactating M. punicus females appeared in April, while R. mehelyi and R. blasii started in May, with weaning in June. Males displayed signs of reproductive readiness from July to November. Body mass varied among species, sexes and months, increasing during gestation in April and May. Conclusions This study has highlighted the importance of subterranean caves as critical habitats for threatened bat species during key reproductive phases. It also demonstrated species-specific response to microclimatic variation in shaping seasonal flight dynamics, and underscore the value of combining morphological and acoustic monitoring to enhance understanding of bat phenology, and activity patterns. Implications Conservation efforts should prioritize restricting access to key Moroccan caves during hibernation and breeding periods. Long-term monitoring is essential to predict species-specific vulnerability to climate change and human disturbances.
Dbiba et al. (Thu,) studied this question.