Lower Montane Bat Assemblage in a Central European Protected Area: A Case Study in the Świętokrzyski National Park, Poland

Świętokrzyski National Park protects a low forested mountain range in SE Poland. Its bat fauna is understudied, with ten species listed from the area so far but with no knowledge of their reproductive status and distribution. We recorded 15 species, eight of them reproducing in the park. For seven species, the present study is the first record in the park. Among the netted bats, Myotis brandtii and Barbastella barbastellus were the most numerous. The ultrasound recordings were dominated by the small Myotis spp., with only a little share of Pipistrellus spp. We found predominance of Myotis mystacinus/brandtii/alcathoe complex and significantly male-skewed sex ratio, both features typical for the bat assemblages of the higher mountain ranges (e.g., Carpathians). Comparison of individual rarefaction curves with the two other Polish montane national parks revealed, however, much faster species accumulation due to the lower altitude and milder climate. Capture data suggest elevational gradient of bat species composition, with a shift in the structure of the bat assemblages around 330 m a.s.l., resulting in formation of two zones. These zones roughly correspond to the belt of lowland oak-hornbeam forests and montane beech and fir forests. However, no such pattern was revealed by the acoustic survey.