Wintering range of Pipistrellus nathusii (Chiroptera) in Central Europe: has the species extended to the north-east using urban heat islands?

Abstract

Recent climate warming is thought to affect the migratory behavior and geographical range shifts of Pipistrellus nathusii. This bat of the European temperate woodland zone is known to migrate up to 1900 km between its breeding and wintering areas where it uses overground roosts for hibernation. New wintering areas of the species have been recorded lately mainly in the cities of Central Europe, largely extending its winter distribution to the north-east. The growing detection of the winter occurrence of P. nathusii has coincided with an increase in mean winter temperatures and urban warming. Our analysis shows that a winter isotherm of −2.5°C acts as a border for the winter occurrence of P. nathusii, and the species uses urban areas, most likely benefiting from the effect of urban heat islands. Accordingly, the island-like pattern of P. nathusii’s regular wintering habitats distribution in Central Europe seems to reflect the thermal and structural diversity of the environment. The use of diverse anthropogenic roosts suggests that the species is well-adapted to urban habitats, thus demonstrating its ecological plasticity.

Go to the city: urban invasions of four pipistrelle bat species in eastern Slovakia

“…In September 1860, it was found at periphery in Bankov; this time it was situated certainly out of urbanised part of the city (Jeitteles 1862). Moreover, according to our best knowledge, the record is only the third documented winter record of the species from Slovakia, first two being reported from similar urban circumstances in Bratislava (Danko et al 2012;Sachanowicz et al 2019). Recent winter records of this species are very scarce but increasing in central Europe (Řehák & Foral 1992;Benda & Hotový 2004;Jahelková et al 2014;Sachanowicz et al 2019), and when considering generally strong social affinity of bats to hibernacula (Lewis 1995), such records of wintering Nathusius's pipistrelle could indicate some process of synurbanisation.…”

“…Moreover, according to our best knowledge, the record is only the third documented winter record of the species from Slovakia, first two being reported from similar urban circumstances in Bratislava (Danko et al 2012;Sachanowicz et al 2019). Recent winter records of this species are very scarce but increasing in central Europe (Řehák & Foral 1992;Benda & Hotový 2004;Jahelková et al 2014;Sachanowicz et al 2019), and when considering generally strong social affinity of bats to hibernacula (Lewis 1995), such records of wintering Nathusius's pipistrelle could indicate some process of synurbanisation. Another explanation suggests recent north-eastern shift of winter range in this species because of climate change (Lundy et al 2010), where cities play a role of habitat-suitable islands or step stones during their expansion (Sachanowicz et al 2019).…”

First record of a Nathusius’ pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii) overwintering at a latitude above 60°N

“…Haarsma et al (2019) discovered that Myotis dasycneme males have altered their overwintering areas, suggesting that hibernating closer to breeding areas extend their mating season while also saving energy needed for migration. P. nathusii usually hibernates in solitary or in small groups above ground (Sachanowicz et al 2019). Typical winter roosts are buildings, hollow trees, woodpiles and sometimes rock crevices (Diez and Kiefer 2016).…”

“…Typical winter roosts are buildings, hollow trees, woodpiles and sometimes rock crevices (Diez and Kiefer 2016). Therefore, they are seldom observed in hibernation surveys and most findings in the winter occur by accident (Sachanowicz et al 2019). The species overwinters predominantly in Western, Central and Southern Europe.…”

“…The species overwinters predominantly in Western, Central and Southern Europe. However, there is an increasing number of observations of hibernating individuals in Eastern Europe, most notably from Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary (Benda and Hotový 2004;Sachanowicz and Ciechanowski 2006;Sachanowicz et al 2019;Nusová et al 2019). Furthermore, one individual was discovered hibernating in a crevice between the window frame and concrete wall in Riga, Latvia, As a result, the breeding and overwintering areas of P. nathusii are now overlapping in Central-Europe (Sachanowicz et al 2019).…”