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<p>Ongoing climate change is rapidly altering winter conditions across Europe. This results in northward range expansions and the establishment of new sedentary populations in migratory volant vertebrates. Here we report the first large winter aggregation of <i>Pipistrellus pygmaeus</i> in central Ukraine - and, to our knowledge, in the entire Eastern European Plain. Over the winters of 2021/22–2024/25, we recorded 11 wintering events involving more than 1200 individuals. The largest was a single hibernaculum in a municipal building in Cherkasy (49.43° N, 31.99° E; central Ukraine), where 231 bats were found alive and approximately 1000 were found dead. The bat colony was strongly female-biased and included both adult and this-year-born individuals; the body mass of bats in March was at its lowest seasonal point, notably lower than summer values. Our findings indicate not only a rapid northward shift in the species’ winter range, but also a reorganization of spatial sexual segregation. This shift may be interpreted as a response to the shortening and warming of winters in the region. Our results highlight the critical importance of systematic winter monitoring of urban hibernating bats to understand the mechanisms and broader ecological consequences of climate-driven range dynamics in bats.</p>

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Do European bats react to climate warming more rapidly than expected? further winter range expansion of Pipistrellus pygmaeus in Eastern Europe

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月21日

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  • Maryna Yerofeieva,
  • Maryna Radevych,
  • Alona Shulenko,
  • Kateryna Zemliana,
  • Andrii Kulynych,
  • Anzhela But,
  • Veronika Putiatina,
  • Kseniia Kravchenko,
  • Alona Prylutska,
  • Anton Vlaschenko

摘要

Ongoing climate change is rapidly altering winter conditions across Europe. This results in northward range expansions and the establishment of new sedentary populations in migratory volant vertebrates. Here we report the first large winter aggregation of Pipistrellus pygmaeus in central Ukraine - and, to our knowledge, in the entire Eastern European Plain. Over the winters of 2021/22–2024/25, we recorded 11 wintering events involving more than 1200 individuals. The largest was a single hibernaculum in a municipal building in Cherkasy (49.43° N, 31.99° E; central Ukraine), where 231 bats were found alive and approximately 1000 were found dead. The bat colony was strongly female-biased and included both adult and this-year-born individuals; the body mass of bats in March was at its lowest seasonal point, notably lower than summer values. Our findings indicate not only a rapid northward shift in the species’ winter range, but also a reorganization of spatial sexual segregation. This shift may be interpreted as a response to the shortening and warming of winters in the region. Our results highlight the critical importance of systematic winter monitoring of urban hibernating bats to understand the mechanisms and broader ecological consequences of climate-driven range dynamics in bats.