Vespertilio 9–10: 33–56 , 2006 ISSN 1213-6123 The bat fauna of the Aggtelek National Park and its surroundings (Hungary) Sándor BOLDOGH Aggtelek National Park Directorate, H–3758 Jósvafő, Tengerszem-oldal 1., Hungary;
[email protected] Abstract. The bat fauna of the Gömör-Torna Karst region has been studied for several decades, in par ti cu lar that of the Aggtelek Karst (Hungary). The earliest research was mainly conducted in the well-known Baradla cave system, whilst other sites in the region were somewhat neglected. At the end of the 1980s a new research programme started, when studies on house-dwelling bat species and a comparative analysis of results was systematically carried out. These results played an important role in the conservation strategies for the protection of roosts (e.g. in churches). Some of these roosts were of international im por tan ce. During the third period of research, a survey of man-made caverns and of forest-dwelling bat po pu la ti ons began. This research revealed that 26 bat species inhabited the administrative area of the Aggtelek National Park (24 species in the proper area of the national park). These fi gures prove that there is a very rich bat fauna in terms of both species and their populations. The latest faunistical studies and the pro te cti on of these populations have both signifi cantly improved our knowledge on the distribution and occur ren ce of several species. At the same time, it became necessary to reassess all previous data. Bats, faunistics, nature conservation, monitoring, Hungary Introduction A drastic decline in bat populations was observed in the second half of the twentieth century in several European countries (Stebbings 1988).