The species composition and relative density of bats were compared in forests of various sizes occurring as “islands” in the agricultural landscape of central Poland. The following island categories were distinguished: very small (0.3–0.7 km2), small (1.0–1.5 km2), medium (2.0–3.5km2) and large (approx. 18 km2). Bats flying over lanes were caught at 34 mist net stations in 13 islands at the end of June and beginning of July (period I) and again at the end of July and beginning of August (period II). Twelve species of bats were recorded (Plecotus auritus, Eptesicus serotinus and Barbastella barbastellus were the dominant species), and the number of species in specific categories of islands ranged from 8–9, except in the very small islands, where only 4 species were confirmed. Species diversity rose with the size of the islands. Nyctalus leisleri and Myotis mystacinus were caught only in the large island. The frequency of B. barbastellus and Nyctalus noctula clearly increased with island size as opposed to E. serotinus and P. auritus. The relative density (mean numbers of individuals caught at one location on one night) during period I increased with island size from very small (1.8) to large (8.1), while during period II, the highest values were achieved in the medium-sized islands (13.4). The mean number of species for one location and night rose in a similar manner. Forest fragmentation to very small units of less than 1 km2 in size negatively influences bat ensembles.
The hypothesis tested concerned whether the diet of the tawny owl Strix aluco, as an opportunistic predator, does reflect increases in the density of bat populations in the owl’s hunting areas. In our study area, there was a mass use of toxic pesticides during which numbers of bats declined drastically, after which recoveries in the populations of most European species occurred. Thus, in Poland, numbers of bats reached their lowest levels in the 1980s. We examined the diets of tawny owls in Warsaw and the adjacent Kampinos Forest of central Poland, based on the remains of 9142 prey items. Bat specimens were found to comprise the following percentages of all vertebrate prey items: 1976–1989: 0.03–0.14%, 1990–1999: 0.32–0.40%, and 2000–2007: 0.54–1.71%. If the share taken by bats among mammalian prey is in turn considered, the analogous figures are 0.09–0.17%, 0.45–0.99% and 0.92–3.26%. Patterns in owl diets were consistent with trends in bat numbers at 15 large winter roosts located some 10–50 km from the study area in 1989–2006.
In order to identify population trends in Barbastella barbastellus in Poland we summarised results of long-term winter bat counts conducted between 1985 and 2004 in seven of the most important hibernacula of the species. The results show an upward trend in four of the sites while in the remaining four no trend was found. The numbers of barbastelles in Poland seem stable or even increasing. In Central Europe the species is not threatened as seriously as it is in Western Europe.