Author: Tiago Múrias
Keywords: bats; occurrence; observation; hibernation; reproduction; refuges; roosts

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

Paulo Mota^1, José Vítor Vingada^1, Pedro Rodrigues^2, Nuno Garrido^2, Nuno Pinto^2, Virgínia Duro^2, Frederico Oliveira^2, Hugo Rebelo^3, Francisco Amorim^4, Vanessa Mata^4, Tiago Múrias^3

1 BIOLINK - Consultoria Ambiental, Unipessoal, Lda, Praceta Caminho da Cruz, 9, 4405-625 VN Gaia, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal; 2 BIOLINK - Consultoria Ambiental, Unipessoal, Lda, , Portugal; 3 CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Vairão, Portugal; 4 CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, 

Corresponding author(s): Paulo Mota (biolink.lda@gmail.com)José Vítor Vingada (biolink.lda@gmail.com)Pedro RodriguesNuno GarridoNuno PintoVirgínia DuroFrederico OliveiraHugo RebeloFrancisco AmorimVanessa Mata, Tiago Múrias (tdsantos@cibio.up.pt)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Mota P, Vingada J V, Rodrigues P, Garrido N, Pinto N, Duro V, Oliveira F, Rebelo H, Amorim F, Mata V, Múrias, T (2020): EDP Baixo Sabor: Bat Roosts - Ecological Monitoring Program (PME) (2008-2014). v1. EDP - Energias de Portugal. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=edp_sabor_chiroptera_roosts&amp;v=1.0

Abstract

The dataset contains records of bats (Chiroptera) collected in the lower valley of River Sabor, which  were collected in the scope of the long-term Ecological Monitoring Program (PME) of  the Baixo Sabor Hydroelectric Dams, promoted by EDP – Energias de Portugal, S.A. Data were collected between August 2008 and November 2014, during field visits to 97 known or presumed bat hibernation, reproduction and pre-dispersion (post-reproduction) roosts, within a 5-km radius buffer around the lower valley of River Sabor. The presence of individuals was recorded by direct observation, and all individuals were photographed whenever possible. The records include taxa identified at the species or genus level. In several occasions it was not possible to separate the individual species, so they were grouped in several “species complexes”, including either one or multiple genus. Due to the vulnerability of the roost locations, the precision of the geographic coordinates was degraded to 0.01, according to the recommendations of Chapman & Grafton (2008). The dataset with the original (undegraded) coordinates may be provided upon request by the resource contact from EDP, who will define the terms and conditions for its use. 

Keywords: bats; occurrence; observation; hibernation; reproduction; refuges; roosts

General description

Purpose: This dataset is part of a broader initiative whereby the company EDP - Energias de Portugal S.A. will make available biodiversity data collected during impact assessment and biological monitoring studies. 

Project details

Project title: EDP Baixo Sabor: Bat Roosts - Ecological Monitoring Program (PME) (2008-2014)
Personnel: Paulo Mota, José Vítor Vingada, Pedro Rodrigues, Nuno Pinto, Virgínia Duro, Frederico Oliveira, Hugo Rebelo, Francisco Amorim, Vanessa Mata, Tiago Múrias
Funding: The work was funded by EDP - Energias de Portugal, S.A. 
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The study was conducted in part of the sub-basin of river Sabor directly or indirectly affected by the construction of the Baixo Sabor Hydroelectric Dams, as well as in control areas nearby. The sampling included all known and potential roosts located in a radius of 5 km around the flooded area (caves, mines, tunnels, buildings, etc.), and to a total length of 90 km upstream.
Design description: Thje objective of the study was to monitor the fate of bats roosts (hibernation and/or reproduction, and pre-dispersion periods) and associated bat populations in the area of the Baixo Sabor Hydroelectric Dam, centered in a 5-km radius buffer around the river, during its construction and subsequent flooding (2008-2014). 

Data published through GBIF: http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=edp_sabor_chiroptera_roosts

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: The taxonomic coverage of this dataset spans 1 class, 1 order, 4 families, 8 genus and 11 species positively identified. 
Taxonomic ranks
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Miniopteridae, Molossidae, Rhinolophidae, Vespertilionidae

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: 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.
Coordinates: 41°5'49.01''N and 41°56'20.63''N Latitude; 7°12'45.09''W and 6°15'4.39''W Longitude 

Temporal coverage: August 25, 2008 - November 5, 2014

Methods

Method step description: To be completed
Study extent description: 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 description: 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 description: All individual identifications were performed by qualified technicians 

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive EDP Baixo Sabor: Bat Roosts - Ecological Monitoring Program (PME) (2008-2014)
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/archive.do?r=edp_sabor_chiroptera_roosts
Publication date of data: 2020-04-26
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2020-04-08
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Chapman AD & Grafton O (2008) Guide to Best Practices for Generalising Sensitive Species-Occurrence Data. Copenhagen: GBIF Secretariat. https://doi.org/10.15468/doc-b02j-gt10