The implications of flight on the behavioural and physiological ecology and life histories of flying vertebrates

作为我关于飞行对蝙蝠行为、生理生态学和生活史的影响的研究计划的一部分，我将在育空地区进行几个项目。独特的北方环境将允许我测试关于生命历史的进化和多样性的预测，夜行动物如何应对没有夜晚，以及气候变化对北方生态系统的潜在影响。例如，蝙蝠的北部界限可能由温度等环境条件决定。气候变化可能会使种群向北扩张，但如果高纬度地区的夜间较短，使个体无法长时间进食以获得繁殖所需的能量，那么它们向北的扩张可能会受到限制。我们将确定育空地区的蝙蝠如何调整它们的进食行为以适应凉爽的气温和较短的夜晚。我们还将确定它们如何选择栖息地，以尽量减少在寒冷环境中保持温暖的成本，以及进食和栖息行为的结合如何影响生长和繁殖。育空地区的第二个研究领域将检查云杉甲虫侵扰对蝙蝠摄食行为和小型哺乳动物种群的影响。云杉甲虫对森林造成了广泛的变化，我们将确定这些变化与其他干扰（自然（火灾）和人为（伐木））造成的变化相比如何。

As part of my research program on the implications of flight on the behavioural and physiological ecology and life histories of bats, I will conduct several projects in the Yukon. The unique northern environments will allow me to test predictions regarding the evolution and diversity of life histories, how nocturnal animals deal with no night, and the potential impacts of climate change on northern ecosystems. For example, the northern limit of bats may be determined by environmental conditions such as temperature. Climate change may allow populations to expand northward, but if the short nights at high latitudes preclude individuals from feeding for long enough to obtain energy for reproduction, their northward expansion may be limited. We will determine how bats in the Yukon adjust their feeding behaviour to cool temperatures and short nights. We will also determine how they select roosts so as to minimize the costs of staying warm in a cold environment, and how the combination of feeding and roosting behaviours influence growth and reproduction. A second area of research in the Yukon will examine the effects of spruce beetle infestations on bat feeding behaviour and small mammal populations. Spruce beetles have caused extensive changes to forests and we will determine how those changes compare to those caused by other disturbances, both natural (fire) and man-made (logging).