Use of the bat boxes by bats in the forests of the Tatra National Park

Bats spend over half of their lives occupying summer and winter roosts. Thus, it is not surprising that roosts play an important role in the ecology of these mammals. The availability and distribution of summer shelters affects the presence of bats, species richness and activity of bats. The aim of the study was to report the effects of using the artificial shelters, namely bat boxes in the Tatra National Park (southern Poland). The use of bat boxes by bats was studied in the 50-years-old oak-beech and spruce stands located in lower and upper forest mountain zone. A total of 101 bat boxes of two models were checked in each area in 2018 and 2019. Seven bat species, i.e. Myotis bechsteinii, M. mystacinus, M. brandtii, Eptesicus nilssonii, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Plecotus auritus and P. austriacus inhabited these artificial shelters. The most frequent were bats from Mystacinus group (mainly M. mystacinus sensu stricto) and P. auritus. The species richness and occupation of the bat boxes situated in the breakdown of tree stand in the spruce forest in lower mountain zone was higher than in the subalpine spruce stand. The sawdust-concrete boxes were preferred by the bats, and frequency of their inhabitation was higher than in case of the wooden boxes.