Kurdistan is located in the west of Iran between 34°44'N to 36°30'N and 45°31'E to 48°16'E, and shares about 200 km of its western political border with Iraq. It neighbors Western Azerbaijan at the north, Hamadan and Zanjan at the east, and Kermanshah province at the south. The altitude range of the region varies from 900 meters in Alout region of Baneh to 3300 meters in Shahou Mountain. Kurdistan can be separated into eastern and western parts which differ in geology and topography, as well as climatic conditions. The eastern part (61% percent of the province area) has a cold and arid climate, while in the western part (39% of the province area), warm and humid climate is dominant. Here, the annual average precipitation is higher than in the eastern part. The western part also includes more forests and rangelands (Gholizadeh and Zarei 2014).

The list of caves in the province was compiled using several information sources. Cooperation was requested from the Environmental Protection Service, the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, as well as other organizations such as caving and mountaineering clubs. All available literature and websites were also surveyed. A total of 28 caves were listed and scheduled for visits.

This study was carried out from 2015 to 2017. To collect information on cave-dwelling bat species in Kurdistan province, several expedition trips were taken in the region. We used direct count method for the caves with a few individuals; and photograph count and population estimation for large colonies. In each cave, a few individuals were captured with the aid of hand-nets and identified according to morphological characteristics using identification keys (DeBlase 1980; Dietz and Von Helversen 2004), then photographed, and released at the same location. The geographical position and altitude of each cave were recorded by Garmin GPS unit (GPSMAP 60CSx; Garmin International, Inc., Olathe, Kansas, USA).

The distribution map of each bat species was drawn by ArcGIS software version 10.2 (ESRI, 2013), using the coordinates obtained during the field work.

Data on cave geophysical characteristics and human activities were obtained from our direct observation during field works. Accessibility to the cave sites, cave openings, and effort of exploration in the caves were determined by direct observation, experience, and comparison of different caves. Data about tourism activity, cave use, and Land-use change activities within cave vicinity were gathered from direct observation, local people and, tourism companies. All the information was listed; each parameter was separately scored for each cave in comparison with other caves.

We used the Bat Cave Vulnerability Index (BCVI) proposed by Tanalgo et al. (2018) to measure the conservation priorities of Kurdistan caves. The index has two components including Biotic Potential (BP) and Biotic Vulnerability (BV) which are separately calculated. The final value which is represented as an alphanumeric index is a combination of the scores from both components for each cave. BP and BV are calculated in different ways. Based on our data sources, we calculated the value of each component and then scored them according to Tanalgo et al. (2018).

BP value for each cave is the sum of the computed scores for individual bat species, multiplied by total species richness. The numeric values of abundance, relative abundance, endemism, and conservation status, and species-site commonness of bat species are the basis of this assessment

Species richness is the number of bat species per cave, using information from our field work.

Species abundance is the number of individuals of each species per cave.

Species relative abundance was calculated using the number of individuals of each species in a specific cave dividing by average abundance of that species from all caves where the species was observed.

Species-site commonness is a value for determining the rarity of species. This parameter is calculated using the formula below:

“The number of all caves assessed in the study/ frequency of the species occurrence”, where the frequency means the number of caves that a specific species was observed.

Determining the endemism and conservation status of each species were done by using the latest information from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List (www.iucnredlist.org). Each category then was translated to a score according to the scoring system as in Tanalgo et al. (2018). In this system, widespread, regional endemism, country endemism and restricted or data deficient are given 2, 3, 4 and 5 scores, respectively. Also, least concern, least concern with decreasing population, near threatened, vulnerable, and endangered are given 2, 3, 4 and 5 scores, respectively. Score 6 goes to critically endangered, near extinction, and data deficient species (Tanalgo et al. 2018). After listing all the scores, we applied the formula proposed by Tanalgo et al. (2018).

BV value is obtained by scoring the geophysical and anthropogenic status of the caves. Geophysical and anthropogenic characteristics include six parameters as shown in Table 5. Accessibility to cave sites, cave openings, the effort of exploration, tourism activity, cave use, and Land-use change activities within cave vicinity are the six parameters that are considered in the study.

The next step is to combine BP and BV indices to construct BCVI values. As shown in Fig. 1 adopted from Tanalgo et al. (2018), 16 possible ranks are derived by combining the BP and BV values, which are categorized under three levels of priority: high, moderate, and low.

Figure 1. 

16 possible alphanumerical BCVI values resulted from a combination of BP and BV scores. Cave priorities are categorized into three groups: High priority, medium priority, and Low priority.

From 28 explored caves, all but two caves (Div Zendan and Kani Gureh) were occupied with at least one bat species (Tables 1; Suppl. material 1: Fig. S1). Six caves with one species, ten caves with two, six caves harboring three species, two caves with four species, as well as one cave with five and another one with six species were recorded (Table 2).

Overall, 10 bat species belonging to four families were documented in the region under study (Tables 1, 2). Furthermore, in two caves including Davazdah Emam and Golestaneh, unidentified rhinolophid bats were observed that we refer them to Rhinolophus sp. (Tables 1, 2).

The most widespread species was Miniopterus pallidus which was observed in 16 caves (Tables 1, 2; Suppl. material 1: Figs S1, S2). R. hipposideros and T. teniotis have the lowest distribution ranges, each occurring only in one cave. The largest colonies belong to M. pallidus and Myotis blythii. Besides, T. teniotis, and P. macrobullaris have the smallest population size with two individuals observed for each species

In Table 3, we give overview of records for each species for Kurdistan region before our study, and information on increase in number of records, as result of our investigations.

The results from the calculations of BCVI for 26 caves are shown in Table 5. Population size and species richness are also given for each cave. Information about endemicity and conservation status of each species and their scoring are presented in Table 4.

Table 5 summarizes all the scores and calculated BP, BV scores and the resulting BCVI index values.

Four caves including Kamtaran, Karaftu, Darvish Ouliya, and Kouna Sham-Sham (Fig. 2) received the highest priority getting a 1B value. All these caves were the most populous in this study (with 770–1200 estimated individuals). Species richness of these four caves varies from 3 to 6. All of them are easily accessible and the entrances are rather easy to pass with minimum obstacles inside them. Three caves including Soltan Abad and Tarik2 (3B), and Seyyed Bolqaa (2C) are moderately vulnerable. In these three caves, no or minimum sign of cave use, tourism, and land-use change activities were observed. About 500 individuals were counted in each of these three caves at the time of the investigation. The remaining 19 caves get 4B or 4C values which are commented to have the lowest priority. Although bat diversity of these 19 caves ranges from one to four species, only 30 or fewer individuals were counted in 15 of them. It is concluded that population size is the most effective parameter in computing the final BCVI value for studied caves in Kurdistan province. For example, both Sayel Mayel and Seyyed Bolqaa caves harbor four bat species, but the former with 134 individuals is classified as low, and the latter with 500 shows the moderate priority. Additionally, Shouvi with 185 and Kouna Sham-Sham with 1200 individuals get low and high priority index, respectively. Both are the same in term of their bat diversity.

Figure 2. 

Four caves of Kurdistan with the highest priority for conservation programs: A Karaftu B Kamtaran C Darvish Ouliya D Kouna Sham-Sham.

Our study increased the number of bat species in Kurdistan to 10. This study demonstrates that the species richness of the region is much higher than previously assumed, and it raises the respective number to 10 species. Out of this number, three species are globally in decline.

So far, up to 1311 bat records have been documented in Iran (Akmali et al. 2019a; Yusefi et al. 2019), from which 25 records refer to Kurdistan province (Benda et al. 2012). The results of the current study upgrade the respective number of Iran to 1372 records. Also, the records of Kurdistan reach 86 which shows the province covers approximately 16 percent of the whole country records on bats.

Only five bat species were recorded in previous studies from Kurdistan province.

Only five from 16 possible BCVI values (Tanalgo et al 2018) were obtained for Kurdistan caves. It shows that, regardless high variation in population size (from 1 to 1200 individuals), and diversity (1 to 6 species) per cave, BCVI couldn’t adequately categorize Kurdistan caves and more specified parameters are essential for a particular region. In a holistic assessment, all BV parameters get the same weight; so, two caves with similar BV scores do not necessarily have equal conservation importance. As developers of BCVI commented, the parameters should be modified in particular conservation programs with different purposes (Tanalgo et al. 2018). This means that we may manipulate the BV criteria according to our conservation strategy.

Another point is, as some species have different global and regional IUCN statuses (Yusefi et al. 2019), the regional conservation status should also be considered in our assessment if we want to have more accurate results for a particular country.

Karaftu cave is the only cave whose bat fauna contains all four species and this is considered a priority in this study. This cave is one of the longest caves in the region and is divided into two parts: the artificial part and the natural part. A permanent water source exists in the cave and many passages are branched from this four-floored cave. This cave was one of the main summer roosts for bat species in the past (DeBlase 1980). With a bat fauna including five species, this cave deserves to be treated as a hotspot for bats. Another cave that has the highest species richness in the province is Kamtaran Cave. Besides, some fossil remnants which resemble prehistoric creatures were observed on the floor and roof of this cave. It is one of the main roosts of bats and should be considered a hot spot for them and receive immediate conservational attention. Darvish Ouliya is one of the main roosts for R. blasii which is considered a rare species over the region. A water stream is running on the floor finding its way outside the cave. The largest mixed colony is observed in Kouna Sham-Sham with 1200 individuals. This cave is also one of the largest caves with three entrances and numerous inner branches.