Status of <scp>S</scp>avi's pipistrelle <scp><i>H</i></scp><i>ypsugo savii</i> (<scp>C</scp>hiroptera) and range expansion in <scp>C</scp>entral and south‐eastern <scp>E</scp>urope: a review

Abstract S avi's pipistrelle H ypsugo savii is a M editerranean faunal element among the bats; it occurs in southern E urope, the C anary I slands, north‐western A frica, most of the M editerranean islands, in the northern part of the M iddle E ast, in the C rimea, C aucasus, W est T urkestan, and northern A fghanistan. The northern margin of its geographical range in E urope reaches the P yrenees, M assif C entral, southern A lps, D almatia, B alkan M ountains and southern C rimea, like that of other similar biogeographical elements. Since the 1990s, H ypsugo savii started to be found in inland areas of south‐eastern E urope and in C entral E urope as far northwards as in central B ohemia and southern P oland. These numerous new occurrences seem to be either 1) connected to environmental changes caused by the current climate change; 2) evidence of an intrinsic expansion process powered by the species' synanthropic tendency, including passive human‐mediated transport; or 3) a reflection of the increase in field survey efforts. Distributional data on H ypsugo savii from central and south‐eastern parts of E urope were gathered and evaluated. We provide a detailed review of all records available by the end of 2013. The assessment of temporal distribution of the data clearly shows an ongoing and relatively fast expansion of H ypsugo savii from southern to C entral E urope, which represents a shift of almost 800 km northwards in the last 20–25 years. Most of the records (65%) originate from urban habitats. This suggests that the synanthropic habits of the species are the most plausible explanation for the northwards shift of the range limits of H ypsugo savii .