Four different species of horseshoe bats occur in Krka National Park (KNP); Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Rhinolophus hipposideros, Rhinolophus blasii and Rhinolophus euryale. For such conspecifics with similar ecologies to persist together in the same landscapes, some form on niche partitioning must occur to ensure each species is not always in direct competition with each other. However, the exact mechanisms of this partitioning remain poorly-explored in KNP (and indeed in much of the Mediterranean region). Students taking this option will use acoustic bat detectors to examine how activity of different horseshoe bat species varies in time and space within the study area, seeking to determine whether different species specialize in particular habitats, or possess different peak activity times. This will allow students to identify key areas within the park for each species, contributing to the overall knowledge of their ecology and informing future conservation efforts.
All bat handling will be completed by qualified professionals, so no prior bat survey experience is necessary, although students taking this option must be prepared for working long hours at night.
If you would like to do a dissertation or thesis with us but your university hasn’t started dissertation planning or the project selection process, that’s no problem. You can cancel your expedition with zero cancellation charges up until the 15th of April of if you provide documentation from your university saying that they won’t support completing a dissertation project with us.
The 77km long Krka Valley runs from the Dinaric mountains bordering Bosnia to the Adriatic. Since the river runs through limestone, there are several spectacular gorges, making this one of Europe’s most picturesque river valleys. Krka National Park is home to the strictly protected wolf and wildcat, along with spectacular cave systems housing the largest colony of long-fingered bat (Myotis capaccinii) in Europe, which is a Natura target species. Opwall together with BIOTA (a Croatian biodiversity research organisation) has built a research centre in the central part of the Krka valley with easy access to the whole park. The centre is based in a restored house and grounds within 100m of the park boundary and has access to all the habitats throughout the park and surrounding countryside. The National Park Authority have requested we perform baseline surveys to increase the known inventory for the Park, as well as collect long-term monitoring data to answer a series of their management questions.
Tourist visits to Krka National Park are heavily concentrated towards the lower stretches of the river and very few people visit the central and northern parts of the valley. The BIOTA/Opwall research centre is within a rural community that has suffered from significant depopulation and land abandonment in recent years. The centre is designed to give benefits to the local community from the visits (e.g. provision of employment etc). Whilst the main research effort each year from this centre comes through the Opwall programme, the centre remains open year-round, providing facilities for Croatian scientists to collect data at any time of year.
Most of our volunteers fundraise for their expedition costs. Find out more.
Climate
Croatia is hot during this time of the year! In Krka the daytime temperature rarely drops below 30 degrees and can reach 40 degrees.
Fitness level required
Moderate. Whilst there are not many steep hikes in the forest, the hikes are still quite long and the temperature can make them tiring.
Creature comforts
At Krka you will be staying in dormitories with shared western style bathrooms and toilets. There is also some limited phone signal in Krka (but not reliable for a data connection).
Find out all about how you could fundraise for an expedition.
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More information on how the dissertation/thesis projects run within Opwall and what you will need to do
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