Bat Ecology Group

Nearly one quarter of all mammal species worldwide are bats (over 1,500 species). They are so distinct that many scientists studying mammals treat them as something of an evolutionary curiosity. For this reason, bats—animals that differ markedly from terrestrial mammals—are at the centre of our interests.

We conduct research on broadly defined ecology, behavior (with particular emphasis on male sociality), and the physiology of bats. Currently, we study:

• The importance of water bodies for bats in agricultural landscapes: how they influence spatial activity, whether they serve as attractive foraging sites, and whether they are an important element in the chain of ecosystem services
• The impact of bark beetle outbreaks on bat activity
• The energetic costs of migration in juvenile bats
• The extremely rare sociality of males
• The reproductive biology of bats

In our research, we use techniques such as mist-netting, acoustic monitoring with bat detectors, telemetry, measurements of flying insect abundance, behavioral experiments during short-term laboratory holding, metabolic measurements (respirometry chambers), semen parameter analysis, and monitoring changes in body mass and temperature.