Alex Bellé
- 501305
- Phd: 38th cycle
- Dottorato in Scienze Biologiche e Biotecnologie applicate
- Matriculation number: 1061935
- ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6819-5700
Contacts
- alex.belle@unito.it
- Via Accademia Albertina, 13, Torino 10123, Italy
- https://dott-sbba.campusnet.unito.it/do/studenti.pl/Show?1061935
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Supervisor
Sandro BertolinoPhd thesis
Altitudinal gradient on bats in Alpine environment
The purpose of this study is to determine the composition of bat communities along an altitudinal gradient in the Alps and to define the main environmental factors driving this trend. In particular main aims were to: 1) identify the peak of species richness along the altitudinal gradient, identifying if the species richness is decreasing with altitude or mid-elevational peak is present; 2) identify the peak of bat activity along the altitudinal gradient and verify whether it coincides with the peak of bat species richness; 3) assess whether the altitude with the highest species richness is proportionally the one with the most bat feeding activity; 4) define whether environmental factors such as temperature, vegetation stucture and water availability influence the composition of bat population in the Western Alps.
My study area is located in the Orco valley, within the Gran Paradiso National Park (GPNP). Two altitudinal transects were chosen, from 700 m to 3100 m a.s.l. Each sampling point was identified in the characteristic habitat for the altitude.
I used passive bat-detectors SM mini bat (Wildlife Acoustics, Inc., Maynard, MA, USA) placed at each sampling point for two nights per month. The echolocation bat calls were analysed after every field session to identify, if possible, each bat passage at species level. All the sequences identification were performed manually. The manual identification was performed measuring several call parameters. All the manual ids were carried out using the texts ”Acoustic Ecology of European Bats, Barataud 2020”, ”Bat Calls of Britain and Europe, Russ 2021” and ”Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland 2nd ed., Middleton 2022” as references. To assess the bats activity for every species, the numer of sequences of standardised duration (5 seconds) was counted. Likewise, the number of bat passages with feeding buzzes or with social calls was counted.