Bat fauna and conservation assessment of Kurdistan caves, Iran

Abstract

The populations of cave-dwelling bat species are encountering a remarkable decline all over the world. To plan effective conservation projects for bats and their cave roosts, collecting data on their distribution in a particular region is essential. Furthermore, developing an applicable index that incorporates both biotic and abiotic parameters relevant to caves is useful to prioritize caves for conservation management. Recently, there has been a growing interest in studying bat fauna of Iran. The Kurdistan province in west of the country is entirely mountainous, having a suitable geological substratum for formation of caves. Previously, five bat species were reported from Kurdistan. The current study has improved the data by doubling the number of cave-dwelling bat species of the province. A total number of 61 records of 10 species were documented. Overall, of 28 caves studied, 26 caves were used by bats. Each cave hosted one to six bat species. To prioritize Kurdistan caves for conservation programs, the Bat Cave Vulnerability Index (BCVI) was employed for 26 caves explored in this study. Four caves, including Karaftu, Kamtaran, Darvish Ouliya, and Kouna Sham-Sham, were highlighted due to their highest BCVI value. The other 22 caves received medium or low priority values. In the current study, we provided data on the bat fauna of Kurdistan caves, in addition to evaluate their conservation priorities by applying an assessing index for the first time in the country.

Iron Islands: The importance of iron caves in the eastern Amazon for bat conservation

“…In the scenario of minable areas, where landscapes are constantly changing, the quality of habitats is altered and contributes to a reduction in the number of suitable sites for occupation and, consequently, to the decline of populations, whose persistence is affected by their dependence on finding new suitable habitats (Hanski, 1999): once disturbed, bats abandon caves and may not find other suitable ones to settle in (Deleva & Chaverri, 2018; Quibod et al, 2019; Tanalgo et al, 2018, 2022). This has a direct impact on the overall biodiversity of the cave (Nkrumah et al, 2021), especially the species restricted to underground habitats (the so‐called troglobites) which are totally dependent on the resources, including bat guano, present in these habitats (Akmali et al, 2022; Bichuette et al, 2018; Gnaspini & Trajano, 2000; Gnaspini‐Netto, 1989; Trajano, 1995).…”