Bioacoustic pattern of a bat community: seasonal dynamics of bat communities in the Kruger NP, SAR.

Analyzes of bat echolocation calls enable to investigate diverse patterns of bat communities without the need for contact manipulation with individuals. The continuous all-night acoustic recordings provide standardised data open to quantitative comparisons and testing effects of diverse contextual factors upon bat community structure. The multidisciplinary project MOSAIK (Monitoring Savanna Biodiversity in Kruger NP) mapping patterns of variation in savanna communities under different spatial and temporal influences includes bats as one of the model groups. At standardized monitoring points of the project (covering 20 different areas, each containing triplet points differing in access to the water surface: permanent, seasonal and the crests without a water source), all-night acoustic recordings of bats were undertaken over two seasons (using Song Meter recorders SM4BAT). All records were analyzed with aid of Kaleidoscope Pro software and cluster identification technique (with an input database developed by Weier et al. 2018 and Taylor et al. 2020) controlled by manual checking. Multiple comparisons of diverse coenologic variables of the particular samples were performed together with testing effects of associated contextual variables (geographic setting and climatic currents, seasons, vegetation,..