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In the present study we investigated the diet of Eleonora’s falcons in Greece and assessed the regional dietary pattern of 16 breeding colonies of the Aegean. Overall 224 nests were visited and a t...

Background The Schreiber’s bat, Miniopterus schreibersii, is adapted to long-distance flight, yet long distance movements have only been recorded sporadically using capture-mark-recapture. In this study, we used the hydrogen isotopic composition of 208 wing and 335 fur specimens from across the species' European range to test the hypothesis that the species migrates over long distances. Results After obtaining the hydrogen isotopic composition (δ2H) of each sample, we performed geographic assignment tests by comparing the δ2H of samples with the δ2H of sampling sites. We found that 95 bats out of 325 showed evidence of long-distance movement, based on the analysis of either fur or wing samples. The eastern European part of the species range (Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia) had the highest numbers of bats that had moved. The assignment tests also helped identify possible migratory routes, such as movement between the Alps and the Balkans. Conclusions This is the first continental-scale study to provide evidence of migratory behaviour of M. schreibersii throughout its European range. The work highlights the need for further investigation of this behaviour to provide appropriate conservation strategies.

WOS: 000375896000026, PubMed ID: 27001602, The isolation of populations in the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas during the ice ages define four main paradigms that explain much of the known distribution of intraspecific genetic diversity in Europe. In this study we investigated the phylogeography of a wide-spread bat species, the bent-winged bat, Miniopterus schreibersii around the Mediterranean basin and in the Caucasus. Environmental Niche Modeling (ENM) analysis was applied to predict both the current distribution of the species and its distribution during the last glacial maximum (LGM). The combination of genetics and ENM results suggest that the populations of M. schreibersii in Europe, the Caucasus and Anatolia went extinct during the LGM, and the refugium for the species was a relatively small area to the east of the Levantine Sea, corresponding to the Mediterranean coasts of present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and northeastern and northwestern Egypt. Subsequently the species first repopulated Anatolia, diversified there, and afterwards expanded into the Caucasus, continental Europe and North Africa after the end of the LGM. The fossil record in Iberia and the ENM results indicate continuous presence of Miniopterus in this peninsula that most probably was related to the Maghrebian lineage during the LGM, which did not persist afterwards. Using our results combined with similar findings in previous studies, we propose a new paradigm explaining the general distribution of genetic diversity in Europe involving the recolonization of the continent, with the main contribution from refugial populations in Anatolia and the Middle East. The study shows how genetics and ENM approaches can complement each other in providing a more detailed picture of intraspecific evolution. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved., Research Fund of Bogazici University, Istanbul [08M104, 09S101, 11Y00P2]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, TUBITAK [112T698]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [IF/0497/2013]; IRCSET-Marie Curie International Mobility Fellowship in Science, Engineering and Technology; Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic [DKRVO 00023272], We would like to thank Elizabeth Hemond and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We also would like to thank Simos Demetropoulos, Petros Lymperakis, Dina Kovac, Vida Zrncic, Darija Josic, Sanja Drakulic, Tea Knapic, Yannis Kazoglou, Elena Papadatou, Xavier Gremillet, Monika Podgorelec, Peter Vallo, Thierry Disca, Vincent Prie, members of the Win-timdouine expedition (Morocco), Wassim M. Hizem, Pr. Said Nouira, and the "Direction generale des fork de Tunisie" for their assistance with the fieldwork. This study was supported by grants from the Research Fund of Bogazici University, Istanbul (08M104, 09S101 and 11Y00P2) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, TUBITAK (112T698) to RB, from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (research contract IF/0497/2013) to HR, from the IRCSET-Marie Curie International Mobility Fellowship in Science, Engineering and Technology to SJP, and from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (# DKRVO 00023272) to PB.

Mediterranean forests have been exploited by humans for centuries, but their present area and condition have been shaped mostly during the recent decades. Overgrazing resulting from national and EU policies, increasing fires and touristic development have led to the shrinkage of forest, threatening forest species. In this study, we examine the relation of Pipistrellus hanaki, a bat species limited to Cyrenaica, Libya and Crete, with the relict forests of Crete. Radiotracking of males (in autumn) and lactating females (in early summer) showed that P. hanaki uses a range of roost types, but Quercus forest stands and old tree cultivations are largely preferred for foraging, while open areas, young Cupressus stands and Mediterranean maquis are avoided. To unveil larger-scale patterns of habitat suitability by the species, we used Maxent to model its potential distribution on Crete using Chelsa Climatology. The resulted model showed high distribution probability around the mountains of central and western Crete, where native Cupressus, Pinus and Quercus stands are still present, and the climatic conditions are favourable. The strong dependence of this strictly southeast Mediterranean bat on forests and old tree cultivations stresses the need for conservation of these habitat types. In situ forest protection and environmental friendly livestock and farming practices are necessary to ensure the long-term survival of the species in Crete.

The interaction between agricultural production and wildlife can shape, and even condition, the functioning of both systems. In this study, we i) explored the degree to which a widespread European bat, namely the common bent-wing bat Miniopterus schreibersii, consumes crop-damaging insects at a continental scale, and ii) tested whether its dietary niche is shaped by the extension and type of agricultural fields. We employed a dual-primer DNA metabarcoding approach to characterize arthropod 16S and COI DNA sequences within bat faecal pellets collected across 16 Southern European localities, to first characterize the bat species’ dietary niche, second measure the incidence of agricultural pests across their ranges and third assess whether geographical dietary variation responds to climatic, landscape diversity, agriculture type and vegetation productivity factors. We detected 12 arthropod orders, among which lepidopterans were predominant. We identified >200 species, 44 of which are known to cause agricultural damage. Pest species were detected at all but one sampling site and in 94% of the analysed samples. Furthermore, the dietary diversity of M. schreibersii exhibited a negative linear relation with the area of intensive agricultural fields, thus suggesting crops restrict the dietary niche of bats to prey taxa associated with agricultural production within their foraging range. Overall, our results imply that M. schreibersii might be a valuable asset for biological pest suppression in a variety of agricultural productions and highlight the dynamic interplay between wildlife and agricultural systems., We thank the staff at the Danish National High-Throughput DNASequencing Centre for generating the sequencing data. Furthermore,we thank Kristine Bohmann and the three anonymous reviewers foredits and comments on the manuscript. AA was supported by The Danish Council for Independent Research (5051-00033), and OAwas supported by the Carlsberg Foundation’s Distinguished Postdoc-toral Fellowship (CF15-0619). SG was supported by a Marie Skło-dowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (655732)