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Swarming and hibernation of bats in scree fields and talus slopes
Legát, Jakub ; Lučan, Radek (advisor) ; Andreas, Michal (referee)
This literature review attempts to summarize the knowledge on swarming of temperate bats. It focuses on the characteristics of the term swarming and the history of research on this behaviour in the Czech republic and worldwide. It describes in some detail the species that participate in this behaviour, defines the period when bat swarming take place and discusses the factors that influence this behaviour. The second part of the paper summarizes information on swarming and hibernation of bats in scree fields and talus slopes. However, there is very little information to date on whether and in what quantities bats use this habitat during swarming and hibernation period. This thesis discusses existing surveys on this issue and is designed as a theoretical overview for the field research that author intends to undertake during his master's degree.
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Microscopic fungi in caves and other underground shelters
Horáková, Karolína ; Kubátová, Alena (advisor) ; Hujslová, Martina (referee)
This Bachelor thesis is meant as a literature search concerned with diversity of microscopic fungi in caves, prospectively in underground spaces which were made by humankind. The caves represent unique environment for living organisms which is characteristic with specific microclimatic conditions and with deficient sources of nutrients. I have concentrated my focus to micromycetes which were isolated from sediments, atmosphere, dead insect and excrements in caves. The next part of my Bachelor thesis is aimed at species Geomyces destructans which causes so called white-nose syndrome illness - geomycosis on hibernating bats. It is an actual problem which interests scientists such as mycologists, zoologists and parasitologists.
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Altitudinal migrations in animals and their study methods
Zenklová, Tereza ; Sedláček, Ondřej (advisor) ; Klvaňa, Petr (referee)
Migration as a response to the seasonality of the environment is common in many animal taxa. Strong fluctuation of the climate is usually connected to regions in the temperate zone, quite common is in the tropical regions as well. Typically, it is even more pronounced in high altitudes. In such environment, many animals could migrate altitudinaly as a response to changes in the climatic conditions or food abundance. But determinants of altitudinal and long-distance latitudinal migrations could be different. The objective of this work is to determine factors influencing altitudinal migrations in diverse taxa (particularly in birds and bats) and in different biogeographical regions. I am trying to find some common features of migrating species, such as diet or temperature and rain tolerance. Especially tropical species are partial migrants, which means that only some individuals of the population migrate. I will discuss common features of such migrating infividuals. Study methods of altitudinal migration will be a part of this research as well. The work will be primarily concentrated on tropical regions.
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Bioacoustic pattern of a bat community: seasonal dynamics of bat communities in the Kruger NP, SAR.
Staňková, Markéta ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Bartonička, Tomáš (referee)
Analyzes of bat echolocation calls enable to investigate diverse patterns of bat communities without the need for contact manipulation with individuals. The continuous all-night acoustic recordings provide standardised data open to quantitative comparisons and testing effects of diverse contextual factors upon bat community structure. The multidisciplinary project MOSAIK (Monitoring Savanna Biodiversity in Kruger NP) mapping patterns of variation in savanna communities under different spatial and temporal influences includes bats as one of the model groups. At standardized monitoring points of the project (covering 20 different areas, each containing triplet points differing in access to the water surface: permanent, seasonal and the crests without a water source), all-night acoustic recordings of bats were undertaken over two seasons (using Song Meter recorders SM4BAT). All records were analyzed with aid of Kaleidoscope Pro software and cluster identification technique (with an input database developed by Weier et al. 2018 and Taylor et al. 2020) controlled by manual checking. Multiple comparisons of diverse coenologic variables of the particular samples were performed together with testing effects of associated contextual variables (geographic setting and climatic currents, seasons, vegetation,...
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Feeding ecology of bats in the eastern Mediterranean
Žďárská, Lenka ; Andreas, Michal (advisor) ; Gajdošík, Martin (referee)
This work gives an overview of the composition of the diet of bats in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, discusses the structure of bat communities in different bioregions of the area in terms of hunting strategies and resource partitioning and last but not least, how echolocation and morphological characteristics of bats affect the composition of the diet. Although some samples were relatively small therefore it is necessary to look soberly at their informative value, and thus their importance is undeniable. The study in some cases provides completely the first information regarding the composition of diet in several species. Asellia arabica mainly catches Coleoptera (Scarabaeidae), Triaenops persicus hunts Lepidoptera, but Heteroptera, Coleoptera (Scarabaeidae) and Orthoptera too, while Triaenops parvus is a specialist in hunting Lepidoptera. Rhinopoma muscatellum hunts mainly Formicoidea, followed by Coleoptera (Melolonthinae) and Heteroptera, Rhinopoma hadramauticum hunts Formicoidea. Lepidoptera of different size, Heteroptera and Coleoptera are the prey of Chaerephon nigeriae. Pipistrellus hanaki has a wide niche breadth as other species of the genus Pipistrellus. In this study Brachycera, Auchenorrhyncha and Coleoptera primarily occurred in its diet. Not yet described species of...
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Sonar design in Old World bats: patterns of specialisation
Staňková, Markéta ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Lučan, Radek (referee)
Echolocation ranks among key components of adaptive setting of bats. It enabled them to evolve a plethora of diverse foraging strategies and exploit an enormous spectrum of food resources for which they represent one of the most diversified groups of terrestrial mammals with a cosmopolitan distribution. Evolution of echolocation proceeded via responses to diverse constraints and factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, that effect particular variables of echolocation biology. The present bachelor surveys, based on literary records, briefly some of these effects and their role upon structure of bat communities. I summarize basic characteristics of echolocation types, influence of Doppler shift, strategy and use of echolocation in different environments and adaptation against defensive abilities of a prey. Among other I provide an account of history and evolution of bat detectors, the instruments essentially improving current study of that topics. Keywords: Bats, echolocation, sonar, diversity, adaptation, Old World
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Bats - viral Pandora's box
Mejsnar, Martin ; Saláková, Martina (advisor) ; Kuthan, Martin (referee)
Bats, as a very old order of mammals, are significant reservoirs of viral pathogens and in many cases are also scientifically proven carriers of the viruses. These viruses are becoming more and more known, mainly due to the growing human population and thus the frequent contact of humans and bats. In this work I will follow up only some zoonoses that the Chiroptera family carries and I selected them according to their scientific knowledge and, of course, the impact on human society. However, this area is still full of information unclear or completely unknown, so further research is desirable. The basic methods of virus identification that are used to investigate new viruses are discussed in the second part. Key words: bats, virus, zoonosis, reservoir, epidemics
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Selected aspects of autumn migration of birds and bats over a mountain pass
Koukolíková, Anna ; Lučan, Radek (advisor) ; Cepák, Jaroslav (referee)
Mountain passes situated in mountains of east-western orientation serve as important bird and bat migration corridors. Due to the increased concentration of migranting individuals in both groups, mountain passes can be used to study various aspects of migratory ecology. Within the Czech Republic, the most important site of this type is Červenohorské sedlo in Jeseníky. In this thesis, selected aspects of autumn migration (composition of the migratory population, phenology, factors influencing its intensity) of birds and bats during the autumn season were compared. In addition, data usability was compared for a reliable determination of autumn phenology in selected model bird species based. The comparison was between standardized mist netting in the mountains and set of data obtained from faunistic observations throughout the Czech Republic. Data from mountain mist netting has proven to be a more reliable indicator of the timing of bird migration, mainly because most species fly directly and quickly over the mountains, while in low-level observations there is a risk of mixinglocal and migratory populations. Also the number of observed individuals in some cases reflects the interest in extreme late occurrences in many species, which are generally given more attention and are more frequently recorded...
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Island evolution in bats
Holá, Barbora ; Hulva, Pavel (advisor) ; Bartonička, Tomáš (referee)
Order Chiroptera is the only mammalian taxon capable of powered flight. This key adaptation allows for high dispersion capabilities, therefore bats are often the only colonizers of remote islands. More than half of all bat species inhabit islands, and nearly a quarter of them are the islands' endemic organisms. They colonize islands around the entire world, being exempt from only very small, isolated or inhospitable islands.. Island biogeography has an extraordinary importance in many aspects of evolutionary and ecological disciplines. Because of its relative simplicity, as well as the impoverished nature of island biota, emerging interactions between island populations can be better observed compared to mainland. Species that might succumb to extinction due to competition on the mainland may survive on islands. Richness of island biota is subject to two opposing forces, colonization and extinction. A dynamic equilibrium occurs when the probability of colonization and extinction is equal, meaning the number of species is constant, but the composition of species may vary. Isolation, fragmented distribution, and the small size of island populations can lead to speciation, but can also conversely reduce genetic diversity, adaptive capabilities and ultimately cause extinction. The degree of isolation,...
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Effect of habitat fragmentation on bat ecology
Kočí, Jakub ; Lučan, Radek (advisor) ; Hořák, David (referee)
Habitat fragmentation poses one of main threats to biodiversity. Bats (Chiroptera) serve as an important group of bioindicators. Habitat disturbance can induce different answers among them, especially in a tropical forest where bats provide important ecosystem functions such as seed dispersal and plant pollination. Difference between their reactions can be seen between different biomes: Negative influence to the species richness can be expected in a tropical forest with high degree of endemism whereas in temperate zone with long-term human influence to the landscape composition bats might have partially adapted to patchiness of the landscape and fragmentation could have locally positive effect. This thesis aims to summarize current knowledge of how fragmentation influences bat ecology with special aim for the difference between various biomes. Key words: Bats, Chiroptera, fragmentation, neotropics, paleotropics, Europe, temperate zone
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