Hydrogen isotopes reveal evidence of migration of Miniopterus schreibersii in Europe.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Schreiber's bat, Miniopterus schreibersii, is adapted to long-distance flight, yet long distance movements have only been recorded sporadically using capture-mark-recapture. In this study, we used the hydrogen isotopic composition of 208 wing and 335 fur specimens from across the species' European range to test the hypothesis that the species migrates over long distances.

Results

After obtaining the hydrogen isotopic composition (δ²H) of each sample, we performed geographic assignment tests by comparing the δ²H of samples with the δ²H of sampling sites. We found that 95 bats out of 325 showed evidence of long-distance movement, based on the analysis of either fur or wing samples. The eastern European part of the species range (

SUBMITTER: Wright PGR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7526252 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature