The dataset of bat (Mammalia, Chiroptera) occurrences in Ukraine collected by the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center (2011-2022)

Alona Prylutska; Maryna Yerofeieva; Valeria Bohodist; Alona Shulenko; Anzhela But; Ksenia Kravchenko; Oleh Prylutskyi; Anton Vlaschenko

doi:10.3897/BDJ.11.e99243

The dataset of bat (Mammalia, Chiroptera) occurrences in Ukraine collected by the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center (2011-2022)

Biodivers Data J. 2023 Mar 7:11:e99243. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e99243. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Alona Prylutska^{1

2}, Maryna Yerofeieva^{1

3}, Valeria Bohodist^{1

4}, Alona Shulenko¹, Anzhela But^{5

1}, Ksenia Kravchenko⁶, Oleh Prylutskyi³, Anton Vlaschenko¹

Affiliations

¹ Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, Ukrainian Independent Ecology Institute, Kharkiv, Ukraine Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, Ukrainian Independent Ecology Institute Kharkiv Ukraine.
² Max-Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Department of Migration, Radolfzell, Germany Max-Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Department of Migration Radolfzell Germany.
³ V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Kharkiv Ukraine.
⁴ Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University Bila Tserkva Ukraine.
⁵ H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University Kharkiv Ukraine.
⁶ University of Lausanne, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Lausanne, Switzerland University of Lausanne, Department of Ecology and Evolution Lausanne Switzerland.

Abstract

Background: Bats are of high conservational status in most European countries. All bats are under legal protection in Ukraine and included in the national Red Data Book. However, bats remain one of the least studied groups of mammals in Ukraine. Their cryptic lifestyle limits the possibilities of direct observations and, as a result, data on bat distribution are incomplete. Wildlife rehabilitation centres accumulate a plethora of records of wild animals and those data may significantly contribute to knowledge on the species range, phenology and habitat preferences.This paper presents the data accumulated from over a decade of work by the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center (formerly The Bat Rehabilitation Center of Feldman Ecopark), the premier organisation engaged in the rescue and rehabilitation of bats across Ukraine. In addition to in-person data collected by Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center staff, the Center also accepts observations of bat encounters from citizens. The Center's dataset boasts over 20,000 distinct observations, which are the subject of this paper.

New information: This dataset, spanning 2011-2022, contains a total of 20,948 records of bat findings, 19,024 of which consist of records directly identified by UBRC team members. The remaining 1924 observations were provided by citizens through helpline. Data on 16 species and one subspecies have been collected. The highest number of records belongs to Nyctalusnoctula (n = 15889), followed by Eptesicusserotinus (n = 2017) and Pipistrelluskuhliilepidus (n = 2001). Less than 10% of these records have been previously published; the rest are presented in this paper for the first time. The dataset is particularly rich in information on bats in human settlements and is (to the best of the authors' knowledge) the largest dataset on bats within human-modified landscapes ever collected from the territory of Eastern Europe. The entire dataset is available through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Keywords: Chiroptera; Eptesicusserotinus; Kharkiv City; Nyctalusnoctula; Pipistrelluskuhlii; Vespertiliomurinus; Vespertilionidae bats; urban-landscapes.

Alona Prylutska, Maryna Yerofeieva, Valeria Bohodist, Alona Shulenko, Anzhela But, Ksenia Kravchenko, Oleh Prylutskyi, Anton Vlaschenko.