MONITORING
Monitoring the preservation conditions of a natural environment, i.e. species and habitat types is, in its essence, the activity of counting and/or measuring the number and prevalence of a species or habitat type through a longer period of time. In addition to information on species and habitat type, information on the biotic and abiotic factors that influence the number and prevalence of a species or habitat type, i.e. all parameters that describe the preservation conditions, are also collected.
The preservation conditions represent a sum of the influences that have an effect on a natural habitat and its typical species, and which might have an effect on the long-term prevalence, structure, function and long-term survival of typical species in this habitat.
MONITORING OF BATS IN THE CAVE STRUCTURES ON THE TERRITORY OF THE PROTECTED LANDSCAPE OF BARAĆ CAVES AND IN THE NATURA 2000 NETWORK
Through history, the bat fauna on the territory of the Protected Landscape of Barać Caves has not been systematically researched. The presence of bats has been recorded during the speleological research of Upper Barać Cave that has been conducted in the last hundred or so years, but concrete information on them has not been recorded.
During the creation of the Background for the Conservation of the Protected Landscape of Barać Caves, research on the hibernation of bats in Upper Barać Cave and Lower Barać Cave was conducted in 2015.
The hibernation of the lesser horseshoe bat and the greater horseshoe bat was confirmed in both caves, while the southern horseshoe bat was also recorded in Lower Barać Cave.
The number of these species and their possible effect on the population is monitored by counting hibernating specimens in the previous few years, and the results can be seen in the table below.
It also must be stressed that monitoring is also performed in Dumenčić Cave, which is part of the European Ecological Network, and winter counting in other caves where the presence of bats has been recorded is also planned in order to obtain better insight into bat populations on the territory of the Municipality of Rakovica.
Monitoring – winter counting of bats on the territory of the Protected Landscape of Barać Caves and the Natura 2000 network is performed by the park ranger of this institution – Slaven Vuković, bacc.ing.agr. in accordance with official forms and the Manual.
