The Devon Bat Group (DBG) was founded in 1984 to help protect

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s and their

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s, to look after injured bats and to advise and educate people about bats.

History

The Devon Bat Group was formed in the English county of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

in 1984 by people concerned about the decline of British bats. Devon, in the South West of England, is of special importance as it supports most of the British bat species and DBG members work to maintain this diversity and increase our knowledge about bats. It is one of a network of bat groups in the UK which are members of The Bat Conservation Trust. The Bat Conservation Trust was formed in 1991 as an umbrella organisation for the network of

groups in the UK.

Group members and activities

The Group members range from people who are interested in learning more about bats and those wanting to join in group activities to professional ecologists. Activities include roost visits, organising bat box schemes, with regular box checks, and bat surveys. Educational talks, arranging bat walks and caring for sick and injured bats are also organised by DBG members. Members with bat licences carry out Bat Roost Visitor work for

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

. General Group meetings are held every three months and the DBG also has local sections in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and North Devon to organise more local activities. The group works in partnership with many other organisations across Devon. At several reservoirs across Devon, they have worked with the South West Lakes Trust to monitor bat populations at Roadford Lake and other reservoirs. They participate in the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project alongside Devon Wildlife Trust, Clinton Devon Estates,

Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. The council is based at Devon County Hall in the city of Exeter. The area administered by the county council is termed the non-metropolitan county, which is ...

and others. In 2014 and 2015 they helped to run a

citizen science The term citizen science (synonymous to terms like community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is research conducted with participation from the general public, or am ...

project called The Big Exeter Bat Survey to find out about where (and which) bats live in

. As part of the work to re-open Hemerdon Mine, survey data from the group were used as evidence to draw up a plan to mitigate the impact of mining on the bats.

Bat species found in Devon

16 out of 18 UK resident species of bat have been found in Devon. The exceptions are '' Myotis myotis'', the Greater Mouse-Eared bat and '' Myotis alcathoe'' the Alcathoe bat.

Barbastelle

* '' Barbastella barbastellus'': barbastelle

Serotine

* '' Eptesicus serotinus'': serotine bat

''Myotis''

* '' Myotis bechsteinii'': Bechstein's bat * ''

Myotis brandtii Brandt's bat or Brandt's myotis (''Myotis brandtii'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is native throughout most of Europe and parts of western Asia. Taxonomy and etymology The species was described in 1845 by Germ ...

'': Brandt's bat; * '' Myotis daubentonii'': Daubenton's bat * '' Myotis mystacinus'': whiskered bat * '' Myotis nattereri'': Natterer's bat;

Noctules

* '' Nyctalus leisleri'': Leisler's bat * '' Nyctalus noctula'': noctule bat

Pipistrelles

* '' Pipistrellus nathusii'': Nathusius' pipistrelle * '' Pipistrellus pipistrellus'': common pipistrelle * '' Pipistrellus pygmaeus'': soprano pipistrelle

Long-eared bats

* '' Plecotus auritus'': brown long-eared bat * '' Plecotus austriacus'': grey long-eared bat

Horseshoe bats

* '' Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'': greater horseshoe bat; * '' Rhinolophus hipposideros'': lesser horseshoe bat;

References

{{reflist

External links

Devon Bat Group
Bat conservation Organisations based in Devon Animals in England 1984 establishments in England