In order to collect base line data for setting up bat boxes, we established a total of 30 bat boxes in 2017. The bat boxes were established on the sidewalls of overpass and on the inside of girder bridges. Since establishing bat boxes, we regularly confirmed whether or not they were used; in June 2018, we confirmed that a total of six bat boxes were being used by Pipistrellus abramus and Myotis aurascens. It was confirmed that P. abramus used one bat box each out of five bat boxes, and that many adult females of M. aurascens used a single bat box as a place for maternity roosts. This result is the first use case for setting up bat boxes across the country, and could be used as baseline data to build roosts for bats by setting up additional bat boxes in the future.

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of the home range and habitat use of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum individuals that inhabit urban areas. The bats were tracked using GPS tags. For analysis of the home rage, Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and Kernel Home Range (KHR) methods were used. The landscape types of all positional information were analyzed using ArcGIS 9.3.1 (ESRI Inc.). The average home range of 16 R. ferrumequinum individuals was 68.63 ± 25.23 ha, and the size of the overall home range for the females (85.49 ± 25.40 ha) was larger than that for the males (51.76 ± 8.30 ha). The highest average home range for the males was found in August (61.21 ± 0.01 ha), whereas that for the females was found in September (112.27 ± 5.94 ha). The size of 50% KHR ranged from a minimum of 13.26 ha to a maximum of 31.00 for the males and a minimum of 8.02 ha to a maxinum of 42.16 ha for the females, showing no significant differences between the two sexes. In addition, males and females showed no differences in the size of 50% KHR in the monthly comparisons. However, the females showed differences in the size of their core area between periods before and after giving birth. The comparisons between 100% MCP and 50% KHR showed that the types of habitats used by R. ferrumequinum were mostly forest areas, including some farmlands. In addition, comparisons with a land cover map showed that the proportion of broad-leaved forests was the highest, followed by that of mixed forests.

In this study, we analyzed the changes in the echolocation and prey-capture behavior of the horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum from search phase to capture time. The experiment was conducted in an indoor free-flight room fitted with an ultra-high-speed camera. We found that the bats searched for food while hanging from a structure, and capturing was carried out using the flight membrane. In addition, it was confirmed that the mouth and uropatagium were continuously used in tandem during the capturing process. Furthermore, using Constant Frequency (CF), we confirmed that the prey catching method reflected the wing morphology and echolocation pattern of R. ferrumequinum. The echolocation analysis revealed that the pulse duration, pulse interval, peak frequency, start-FM-bandwidth, and CF duration decreased as the search phase approached the terminal phase. Detailed analysis of echolocation pulse showed that the end-FM bandwidth, which increases as it gets nearer to the capture time of prey, was closely related to the accurate grasp of the location of an insect. At the final moment of prey capture, the passive listening that stopped the divergence of the echolocation was identified; this was determined to be the process of minimizing the interruption from the echo of the echolocation call emitted from the bat itself and sound waves emitted from the prey.

Sightings of long-tailed bats have only been recorded twice in Korea, and their morphology and ecology are virtually unknown. We captured a female long-tailed bat in May 2016, in Gangwon Province, and to the best of our knowledge, this has been done for the first time in approximately 30 years. The captured bat had a very small craniofacial area and the length of its tibia was > 19 mm. The wing membrane penetrated the distal portion of the metatarsus of its first toe. The fur of the bat had a lusterless yellowish-brown color and its terminal tail vertebra was free beyond the posterior edge of the uropatagium. It had an obvious lambdoid crest on the lateral side. The anterior and central premolars were located inward with respect to the tooth row. In the mandible, the central premolar was located slightly inward and was nearly 80% of the anterior premolar in height.

In this study, we analyzed two types of echolocation calls used by the parti-coloured bat, Vespertilio sinensis. Bats were captured in the Naejangsan National Park in October 2013. Call sounds of hand-released bats were recorded at the location of capture within the National Park. We analyzed pulse duration (PD), pulse interval (PI), peak frequency (PF), maximum frequency (FMAX), minimum frequency (FMIN), and bandwidth (BW). V. sinensis emitted the different types of the echolocation calls depending on the surrounding environment. Frequency modulated-constant frequency (FM-CF) signal of audible range was emitted when they flew in the uncluttered space over the canopy. However, when flying in the cluttered space below the canopy, they only emitted FM signal. FM-CF signal is in the audible range (e.g., low frequency), and FM signal has a harmonic broadband frequency range of two. There were significant differences in PD, PI, PF, FMAX, FMIN, and BW between the calls emitted over and below the canopy. Considering the functional characteristics of FM and CF signals, we conclude that the foraging activity of V. sinensis was observed below the canopy, and recommend the use of FM signal and broadband as echolocation signals.

We have analyzed the external morphology and the environment of the foraging site of Vespertilio sinensis. The external morphology was analyzed by twelve parameters and the environment characteristics of the foraging site was analyzed using GIS 10.1 program. The wing membrane was inserted into the ankle of the hind foot and the wing ratio was 1.42, the middle type between broad-short wing type and long-narrow wing type. The fur color was blackish brown but the guard hair color was whitish. The shape of the ear was a rounded triangle and tragus was a fan shape. This study showed that V. sinensis preferred the deciduous forest of the upper forest zone, where human interference was less. We believed that abundance of insects, depending on water system, was closely related to the use of the foraging site. This result showed that the environment characteristics was very similar to the nature preservation zone including Baekyang valley and Keumsun valley in Naejangsan National Park.

Between May and September 2014, a total of 226 serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus) were captured and subsequently released at a site 50 km distant from the site of capture, in order to determine the homing ability of the bats and changes in the homing rate according to the season. The bats were captured from a nursery colony at a bridge in An-dong (Gyeongbuk, Korea), and then released at a similar site in Yeong-Ju (Gyeongbuk, Korea). We found that 115 of the 226 bats released (51%) returned to the capture site. However, there was a difference in the homing ability of the serotine bats depending on the season and reproductive status. We found that the homing rate was the highest in June during late pregnancy and the lowest in August after the lactation period.

The Ussurian tube-nosed bat (Murina ussuriensis) is a registered endangered species that has not been observed in South Korea since 1960. We were able to capture three individuals of M. ussuriensis between 2011 and 2013 at Sobaeksan National Park. The discovery of this species was the first time within 50 years. To collect basic data on the M. ussuriensis, we analyzed the external morphology and ultrasound characteristics of the captured bats. The results indicated that M. ussuriensis weigh approximately 5.2 g, which is less than that of a typical small bat such as Pipistrellus abramus. The bat's wing-type ratio was determined to be 1.22 and classified as a broad and short wingspan type. The bat uses FM signals for ultrasound with a peak frequency of 92 kHz. The M. ussuriensis seems to be a forest-dwelling bat that preys on insects by maneuvering expertly within the complex mazelike structure of forests. In the future, further research on the hibernation and foraging sites of the bats is necessary to protect and monitor the species.

Between July and October 2011, radio-tracking was used to analyze the characteristics of home ranges and day roosts of Myotis aurascens by using 3 individuals (male: 2, female: 1). Bat capturing was conducted at a bridge and a nearby forest in Ulju-gun, Ulsan-si. We attached radio transmitters (0.32 g) to the bats and monitored them by using a radio receiver with a Yagi antenna. Home-range analysis of M. aurascens by using 100% minimum convex polygon (MCP) and 95% MCP showed an average of 106.5 ha and 89.3 ha, respectively, and 50% kernel home range (KHR) showed an average of 8.4 ha. Home range overlap of the 3 bats was observed at the bridge and at nearby water bodies as the core areas, and the size of the home range overlap was 7.3 ha by 100% MCP, 5.9 ha by 95% MCP, and 1.6 ha by 50% KHR. The home range for each bat consisted of the main foraging sites, and the types of foraging sites were similar. M. aurascens-01(M-01) used the bridge and nearby water bodies as the nightly main core areas, M. aurascens-02(M-02) used rice fields and water bodies adjacent to the forest as core areas, and M. aurascens-03(M-03) used water bodies and resident areas as core areas. Although rice fields and resident sites represented the core areas of the home ranges of M-02 and M-03, habitat use was the highest near water bodies as the core area for all the 3 bats. The types of day roosts in this study were a wooden house, canopies of a broad-leaved woodland, and banks of rice fields. The roosts in the wooden house and canopies of the broad-leaved woodland were located within the forest, and the roost in the banks of rice fields was also adjacent to the forest. Our results revealed that the main home range and foraging sites of M. aurascens were located near water bodies as the core area, and forests and places adjacent to the forests were used as day roosts.

In this study, we analyzed the pulse-duration, pulse-interval and peak-frequency of echolocation call in three species as Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Pipistrellus abramus, and Myotis macrodactylus. The peak frequency and pulse duration for above mentioned species were 69 kHz, 47 kHz and 49 kHz and 69.39±8.76 ms, 4.95±0.77 ms and 3.09±0.48 ms for R. ferrumequinum, P. abramus and M. macrodactylus, respectively. The pulse intervals for R. ferrumequinum, P. abramus and M. macrodactylus were 103.61±9.05 ms, 67.59±3.47 ms and 66.35±4.96 ms, respectively. The pulse pattern of R. ferrumequinum was setting into a short FM call and linked to long CF call and went through the short FM call again. The pulse pattern of M. macrodactylus was comprised with serial short FM call and the CF call was not checked up in accordance with the spectrogram analysis. The long FM call and short CF call got join together for the P. abramus and the peak frequency was checked up at the pulse ending as CF call.