The study was carried out in central and north-eastern Poland in order to assess bat occurrence in small winter roosts located in house-cellars, in relation to the share of the surrounding landscape taken by forest cover and the distance separating the different sites from forests of at least 1 km². Data from single checks in 2243 cellars in 1990–2007 revealed a positive relationship (R² = 0.33, P <0.001) between the percentage of cellars occupied by bats and the forest cover (range: 2–58%) in sections of surrounding landscape covering between 30 and 220 km². Forest cover in the landscape within 1 km of the cellar appeared to have a slight influence on the number of species and species diversity (Simpson’s index; respectively R² = 0.14, P = 0.006 and R² = 0.13, P = 0.011). Both number of species and species diversity were progressively lower with increasing distance from the nearest forest covering an area of 1 km² or more (for both R² = 0.15, P = 0.005). Myotis nattereri (Kuhl, 1817) and Barbastella barbastellus (Schreber, 1774) were significantly more likely to colonise the cellars surrounded by landscape with a higher level of forest cover (P = 0.001 and 0.031), while M. nattereri was also more likely to be found in those at shorter distances from forests (P = 0.005). No such relationships were reported for either Plecotus auritus (Linnaeus, 1758) or Myotis daubentonii (Kuhl, 1817).
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