Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats

Winner, 2011 Editorship Award, The Wildlife Society

First published in 1988, Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats is widely acknowledged as the primary reference for both amateur and professional bat researchers.

Bats are the second most diverse group of mammals on the earth. They live on every continent except Antarctica, ranging from deserts to tropical forests to mountains, and their activities have a profound effect on the ecosystems in which they live. Despite their ubiquity and importance, bats are challenging to study. This volume provides researchers, conservationists, and consultants with the ecological background and specific information essential for studying bats in the wild and in captivity. Chapters detail many of the newest and most commonly used field and laboratory techniques needed to advance the study of bats, describe how these methods are applied to the study of the ecology and behavior of bats, and offer advice on how to interpret the results of research. The book includes forty-three chapters, fourteen of which are new to the second edition, with information on molecular ecology and evolution, bioacoustics, chemical communication, flight dynamics, population models, and methods for assessing postnatal growth and development.

Fully illustrated and featuring contributions from the world’s leading experts in bat biology, this reference contains everything bat researchers and natural resource managers need to know for the study and conservation of this wide-ranging, ecologically vital, and diverse taxon.

Thomas H. Kunz is a professor of biology and director of the Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology at Boston University. He is the editor of Bat Biology and Conservation and Bat Ecology.

Stuart Parsons is a senior lecturer in biological sciences at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.