Altringham Lab

Social and population structure, mating systems and environment

Long-fingered bat

The foraging and social behaviour of bats is related to the distribution of their resources: food, roosts, mating and hibernation sites. Mating systems have evolved within the constraints of this system and determine the overall structure of bat populations. We are investigating this complex web of interactions in temperate bats. Our primary model is Daubenton´s bat, a species that roosts and feed close to water and so can be studied along the changing riparian habitat from upland to lowland.

Daubenton's bat (Photo Frank Greenaway)

The latest modelling techniques are being applied to population data to investigate life history strategies, estimate population sizes and trends, and to study movements in a number of species, including Daubenton´s bat and the IUCN red-listed long-fingered bat in Greece.

Selected publications

• PDF Senior P, Butlin RK and Altringham JD. (2005) Sex and segregation in temperate bats. Proc. Roy. Soc.B. 272, 2467-2473.
• PDF Papadatou E, Butlin RK, Pradel R and Altringham JD. (2009) Sex-specific roost movements and population dynamics of the vulnerable long-fingered bat, Myotis capaccinii. Biol. Conserv. 142, 280-289.