The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, participated today in the public presentation of the results of the project “Inventory of bat species and refuges in the Fragas do Eume Natural Park”, together with the heads of the Natural Park, Carlos Muñoz and Luis Costa; and Drosera researcher and project coordinator Roberto Hermida, and Drosera researcher and project coordinator Roberto Hermida.

This study, developed by the Drosera Association for the study and conservation of the natural environment within its “Morcegos de Galicia” program, with the collaboration of the Biodiversity Foundation, the Xunta de Galicia and Reganosa, has addressed, for the first time, the exhaustive research of the bat community of the Fragas do Eume Natural Park.

With a combination of classic methodologies (shelter review, capture with fog nets) and modern methodologies, such as acoustic soundings with ultrasound detectors, radio-tracking and DNA analysis for the identification of cryptic species, 16 species of bats have been identified.

During the presentation, it was explained that some of the identified species have only a few citations in Galician territory. This is the case of the forest buzzard bat (‘Myotis bechsteinii’); also that of the dwarf mustachioed bat (‘Myotis alcathoe’). In addition, a species that still lacks a formal description and name has been mentioned for the first time, the genus ‘Myotis’, which has recently been discovered in the north of the peninsula through molecular analyses.

It has also been pointed out that in eight species the presence of breeding females was found and breeding groups were detected in the Natural Park or its immediate surroundings. Of special interest has been the identification of breeding refuges for forest species by radiomonitoring, both due to the fact that there was a lack of prior information on the reproductive ecology of these species in Galicia, and because of the difficulty involved in their study.

For the first time, the refuge ecology of breeding females of forest bat (‘Barbastella barbastellus’) or whiskered bat (‘Myotis mystacinus’) in Galicia has been studied. In addition, a cartography of resource use for the species present in the Park has been drawn up and the known status of each species has been described, with proposals for their conservation.

The characteristics and use throughout the year of the main bat refuges have been studied, emphasizing the threats that loom over each of them and the measures that could be taken to ensure their conservation. Among these measures are the proper closure of some underground cavities and the establishment of agreements with the owners of buildings that house colonies of bats.