The bioacoustics of wild bats and mice.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The concept of the ecological soundscape in terrestrial systems is dominated by our understanding of audible animals such as birds, in spite of incredible diversity and important ecosystem services provided by bats and mice that are nocturnal and vocalize in ultrasonic ranges. My long-term research goal is to determine how individual state and context influence communication and related behaviours of bats and mice, and how changes in the landscape, geophony and anthropophony, at multiple ecological scales, influence signalers and receivers. My long-term program is relevant to behavioural, population, and ecosystem ecology, and tests bioacoustic hypotheses that signals can be adjusted to aspects of the acoustic environment through phenotypic plasticity (Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis; AAH) or through competitive processes in the biophony (Acoustic Niche Hypothesis; ANH). At small scales, I follow individuals through direct observations and experiments to contextualize calls and understand how biotic and abiotic factors influence behaviours. At large scales my work is relevant to conservation because acoustic signals can be used to non-invasively sample biodiversity. I have recently moved to the University of Alberta from the USA. Using a network of sites already established throughout Alberta, I will work on two short term objectives that  leverage a network of existing recording sites for birds that will be expanded to bats and mice and establish/reestablish legacy mouse live trapping grids. The first objective will establish landscape level acoustic recording as part of the NABat monitoring program across Alberta to examine 1a) landscape-level patterns/determinants of bat species presence/abundance and 1b) patterns of activity and social call use by bat species through the year. The monitoring program will also allow me to determine the 1c) pattern of call use by deer mice across the landscape and to determine how call use and structure vary with vegetation at the landscape scale, for the first time. The second objective will use live trapping grids and networks of integrated USARUs to determine 2a) how physiological and ecological context, including natural and human noise, influence call structure and use by the deer mouse and 2b) how calls structure and use varies with vegetation along an altitudinal gradient. These studies will train 2 PhD and 2 MSc students and beyond the discovery objectives will also 1) inform the biology of mice relevant to biomedical research; 2) inform conservation policy for endangered bats; 3) leverage federal and provincial investments into existing biodiversity monitoring programs and agencies; 4) contribute to my outreach and engagement program "Bats and Mice in your Backyard"; 5) prioritize EDI through research excellence by training and support of equity-seeking groups in STEM; and 6) use and contribute to long term data sets (NABat and Kananaskis mouse grids) and open data platforms (Wildtrax and NABat).