Behavioural ecology and evolution (JOKABOLUZIO)
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Department (s) |
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| Knowledge area
Zoology |
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| PI: Leadership is shared among members | Co-PI: | |
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Members Joxerra Aihartza, Inazio Garin, Urtzi Goiti |
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Keywords Mammals, prey, habitat use, pests, monitoring |
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Description The team began in the early 90s carrying out ground laying studies on bats and on the habitat use of carnivores. During the next decade the academic and scientific career of the members got established by reaching professor positions in the Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, and by the direction of several thesis. A handful of articles about the trophic and spatial ecology of different threatened bat species were then published. In this sense, we established some new methodological procedures related to sampling size and radiotelemetry not considered hitherto in other studies. Since then, we have investigated, among others, the morphological and acoustic adaptations of fishing bats by means of high speed video-cameras under low light conditions and real time ultrasound detectors in the wild. Modelling the distribution of species during the last glacial and interglacial periods has enabled us understand current distribution ranges and help foresee future scenarios. During the last years,and with the implementation of molecular tools we have analysed the diet of several mammal species, by using the DNA metabarcoding technique to obtain complete prey lists, as well as the qPCR and MLAP techniques in order to asses the consumption of pest species. We are actively involved in the annual monitoring of underground bat colonies of the Basque Autonomous Region, finding new colonies and counting the previously known ones, all with the financial aid of public administrations, and the collaboration of nature trusts, volunteers and rangers, as well as individual citizens. |
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Website link
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Contact
joxerra.aihartza@ehu.eus
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