Bats Species Diversity of Northern Tajikistan: 45 Years Later

The paper shows the results of long-term field studies of the species composition and number of bats in 8 abandoned mines in the Mogol-Tau mountains and the foothills of the northern slope of the Turkestan Mountain ranges in the territory of Northern Tajikistan. It reveals that the species diversity and number of bats have decreased both in “winter” stationary mine in the Mogol-Tau mountains and in “summer” stationary mine in the foothills of the Turkestan Mountain ranges. At the same time, the number of Myotis blythii Tomes 1857 has remarkably increased in summer. The paper suggests that these changes are not directly related to human activities, but have deeper causes and, possibly, are associated with global climate change.