Movement Ecology of Bats

Conference dinner at the Museum of Natural History.

Four members have just attended the “4^th International Berlin Bat Meeting: "Movement Ecology of Bats”, giving talks (Per Henningsson and Jonas Håkansson) and presenting a poster (Lasse Jakobsen). 

The conference had about 300 attendees and from a CAnMove perspective it was spot on. We have heard a great number of fascinating talks, many presenting tracking data using microdata-loggers to record GPS positions and many other variables. One study reported on bat movements where the bats also had microphones to record encounters with other bats, to show that they aggregate as they forage around the lake of Genezareth. Sharon Swartz, Brown University, gave a plenary about the recent work on skin properties and the function of inter-membrane muscles. We also had a very nice section about bat migration, where Liam McGuire talked about the network of receives that is put up in North America to study bird and bat migration. Other topics were movements and sociality and movement of bats in relation to the spreading of zoonotic disease.

The conference dinner was at the Museum of Natural History (see above), where our table was just under the head of the world’s tallest dinosaur having been mounted so far (with certificate from the Guinness book of records), and of course the museum’s crown jewels – the Berlin specimen of Archaeopteryx. 

On the morning before the conference started we also made a visit to the Berlin Botanic Garden, where especially the green houses can be recommended if you visit Berlin.

 //Anders Hedenström