EDP Baixo Sabor: Bat Roosts - Ecological Monitoring Program (PME) (2008-2014)

Study Extent

The data were collected within a 5-km radius buffer around the lower valley of River Sabor Northeast Portugal), up to 90 km from the mouth, in the municipalities of Torre de Moncorvo, Mogadoro, Alfândega da Fé, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Bragança, Miranda do Douro and Vimioso.

Sampling

Sampling was designed to cover all known and potential bat roosts in the study area, including railroad tunnels, caves, mines, wells, bridges and all sorts of buildings. A place was considered to be a roost when the presence of bats was confirmed, either by direct observations or by indirect evidences (e.g., faeces, urine stains, etc.). Each roost was visited once or twice per season, in the hibernation (January-February), reproduction (April-August) and pre-dispersion (September-October) periods, depending on the year. All roosts were searched for the presence of bats by two observers, which recorded all individuals seen. The time spent in each roost varied with the number of bats present and the accessibility conditions. Species identification were usually made “in situ”, with the aid of head-torches, binoculars and field guides. All bats were photographed whenever possible, not only to build a photographic database, but also to allow a “a posteriori” identification of individuals that raised doubts, or to count large groups that could not be accurately counted in a suitable time in the field. All individuals were assigned to one of the following groups: flying (ie., active), non-flying (inactive) mixed (composed of both flying and non-flying individuals).

Quality Control

All individual identifications were performed by qualified technicians

Method steps

1. To be completed

The taxonomic coverage of this dataset spans 1 class, 1 order, 4 families, 8 genus and 11 species positively identified.

1. Chordata
   rank: phylum
2. Mammalia
   rank: class
3. Chiroptera
   rank: order
4. Miniopteridae
   rank: family
5. Molossidae
   rank: family
6. Rhinolophidae
   rank: family
7. Vespertilionidae
   rank: family

Data were collected in an area of 62,500 ha corresponding to 25 5x5 km squares around the lower Sabor river affected by the Sabor Dam, and in an additional area of 30,000 ha not directly affected by the dam, encompassing a set of 12 5x5 km squares (control area), in the municipalities of Torre de Moncorvo, Mogadoro, Alfândega da Fé, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Bragança, Miranda do Douro and Vimioso.