Szilárd Lehel Bücs

Centre for Bat Research and Conservation

Most Palearctic bats spend the winter in hibernation, with reduced metabolic rate (including body temperature, circulation, heart-rate, etc.), while descending into a motionless stasis. They select particular sites for roosting, sites which show similar characteristics independent of bat species or geographical location: thermally stable and inacce...

While the presence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (the causative agent of white-nose disease) is widely known in European locations, no detailed study has been carried out in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. In the period of 2014-2018, we sampled 21 locations (caves and mine galleries) in the two countries. These are important hibernacula and...

Findings of 6th Eurospeleo Protection Symposium on monitoring EU Habitat 8310 "Caves not open to the public"

This manuscript summarizes the outcomes of the 6th EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium. Special emphasis was laid on presenting and discussing monitoring activities under the umbrella of the Habitats Directive (EU Council Directive 92/43/EEC) for habitat type 8310 "Caves not open to the public" and the Emerald Network. The discussions revealed a high l...

In the European Union, all bat species are strictly protected and member states must ensure their conservation. However, if populations are genetically structured, conservation units that correspond to whole countries may be too large, putting small populations with specific conservation requirements at risk. Geoffroy's bat (Myotis emarginatus) has...

The Blasius’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus blasii) shows a fragmented distribution in the European part of its range, and its populations are threatened by many human-induced factors. The status and distribution of the species in Romania are largely unknown. In recent years, regular bat surveys and monitoring have confirmed the presence of the specie...

The pond bat (Myotis dasycneme) is a Western Palearctic bat species with patchy distribution throughout its range as it heavily depends on large water bodies. In most countries in its range, it is a rare species, hence protected with several international conventions and national legislation. Besides a few scattered localities, almost no informatio...

The northern bat (Eptesicus nilssonii) is one of the Romanian bat species with largely unknown distribution and conservation status. Due to its habitat use and hardly accessible roosts (e.g. underground roosts and rock crevices in high altitude mountain areas) only a few historical records are available about the Romanian distribution of the specie...

Circular replication-associated protein encoding single-stranded DNA (CRESS DNA) viruses are increasingly recognized worldwide in a variety of samples. Representative members include well-described veterinary pathogens with worldwide distribution, such as porcine circoviruses or beak and feather disease virus. In addition, numerous novel viruses be...

The status and distribution of Blasius’s horseshoe bat Rhinolophus blasii in Romania is largely unknown. Historical records suggest the presence of the species mainly in the south-western part of the country, and also in the lower MureşValley, Metaliferi and Trascău Mountains. However, old faunistic data are questionable, due to the difficult ident...

S avi's pipistrelle H ypsugo savii is a M editerranean faunal element among the bats; it occurs in southern E urope, the C anary I slands, north‐western A frica, most of the M editerranean islands, in the northern part of the M iddle E ast, in the C rimea, C aucasus, W est T urkestan, and northern A fghanistan. The northern margin of its geographic...

Méhely's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi) is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN, and has a single known colony in Romania, with less than 100 adult bats. Based on recent field work done in South-Western Romania in the period of 2013-2014, we regularly identified the species outside its currently accepted distribution range, in the Banat Region...

During 2013-2014, we have surveyed seven important colonies of Rhinolophus species in six anthropic roosts of Romania. Out of these, five colonies and four sites were unknown to the Romanian bat fauna. The lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) nursery colony in the Crișul Repede Gorge is monitored since 2010, with the number of bats being...

Since January 2012 we have regularly identified R. blasii using several research methods in the Gălăşeni Cave, situated in the northern part of the Pădurea Craiului Mountains. The site is located more than 100 km north from the nearest location reported in the scientific literature. The mixed colony of R. euryale and R. blasii found in the cave is...

Anthropic underground roosts (abandoned mines, cellars, crypts) are important habitats for bats across Europe, sheltering in some cases large colonies and/or a high species diversity. Here we present data gathered during the winter field seasons of the period 2009-2014, in 34 Romanian anthropic underground roosts, located in several Natura 2000 sit...

Autumn swarming is a key moment in the life cycle of bats, when large numbers of bats, representing many species, visit underground roosts, primarily caves with large halls near the entrance. This behavior facilitates mating, and also provides the assessment of adequate hibernacula. At important swarming sites bats can gather from large areas, in t...

To inform bat researchers about the authorization process regarding the access to Romanian caves and bat fauna, we present the current situation according to national legislation. The protection of the Romanian bat populations is primarily achieved under the umbrella of several international conventions and appropriate national legislation. With th...

In the present study, we assess the genetic status and structure of Greater Mouse-eared bat Myotis myotis populations in the Carpathian Region. We analyze 100 individual bat samples from five maternity colonies and compare our data set with those in existing publications. At the microsatellite level, colonies from the region are highly polymorphic...

The protection of bats in their primary roost (e.g. caves) is mandatory to maintain a healthy population. One of the main objectives of the LIFE+ project “Bat conservation in Pădurea Craiului, Bihor and Trascău Mountains”, with the duration of four years (2010-2013) is to ensure the long term conservation for bat populations in the project area. In...

The carstic regions of the Pădurea Craiului, Bihor and Trascău Mountains, located in the Romanian Western Carpathians are home to the largest and most important bat aggregations from Romania. Since caves are the primary roost of bats, their protection is mandatory to maintain a healthy and undisturbed population. However, in order to make accurate...

The records of Rhinolophus euryale at the northernmost margin of its range in southern Slovakia and northern Hungary represent isolated spots of the species occurrence and together with the parts of the species range in Romania and Serbia are associated with the Carpathian mountain system. We revised distribution status of R. euryale in this mounta...

The limestone regions of the Pădurea Craiului, Bihor and Trascău Mountains are home to the largest and most important bat aggregations in Romania. In the last few decades only sporadic information on cave-dwelling bat fauna of the regions was published, with no large-scale studies undertaken. The present study is meant to fill this information gap....

The carstic areas situated in Pădurea Craiului, Bihor and Trascău Mountains (western Romania) are home to several important underground roosts, which shelter bat colonies in different periods of the year. In the period of 2010-2011 this area was subject to a survey that targeted 67 underground roosts in different periods of the year. A total of 19...

In the present study, we assessed the genetic diversity and population structure of Greater Mouse-eared bat Myotis myotis colonies in the Carpathian Region. We have analyzed 100 individual bat samples from five maternity colonies and compared our data set with those in existing publications. At the microsatellite level, colonies from the region are...

SUMMARY In this study, we present preliminary data sets about population structure of five Greater Mouse-eared bat Myotis myotis colonies, located in Eastern Europe. With the use of standard molecular methods we estimated genetic variability, population relatedness, the effect of the Carpathians on gene flow, and tried to reconstruct postglacial co...