Research

Two projects funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG Priority Program “Ecology and Species Barriers in Emerging Viral Diseases” (SPP 1596)) and one project by Bat Conservation International (BCI).

Understanding the antagonistic nature and evolutionary dynamics of host-pathogen relationships requires information on the genetic covariation and ecological interactions of hosts and pathogens. However, the interplay between the processes that influence covariation of hosts and pathogens is largely unknown. It is for example unclear to what degree ecological conditions and social barriers affect host dispersal and the degree of association among different host species influence pathogen transmission within and among host species. In two projects funded by the DFG we investigate the links between the habitat structure, ecology, behaviour and genetic structure of European bat species (first project in collaboration with the Institut für neue und neuartige Tierseuchenerreger, Friedrich-Loeffler Institut) and neotropical bats (second project in collaboration with the Institute of Virology, Universität Bonn) on the one hand and the genetic structures and prevalence of different viruses that infest bats, on the other hand. The aim is to understand the relationship between ecological conditions and life history traits of the interacting species that may help viruses to overcome species barriers and colonize novel hosts. In a third project funded by BCI we are interested in determining the distribution of Geomyces destructans, the causative agent of White-Nose Syndrome, across Eurasia. We investigate its population structure in relation to bat population structure and its relationship with the invasive North American population of this fungus. This includes investigating the diversity of Geomyces species found across Eurasia and their relationship with Geomyces destructans. Identifying where Geomyces destructans reproduces (the reservoir) and how it is transmitted from bat to bat, from the environment to bats and vice-versa is also a topic of our research. The project on Geomyces destructans is run by Sebastien Puechmaille and co-workers.

Projects are/have been funded by various foundations, including the German Science Foundation (DFG), the VolkswagenStiftung, several private foundations, such as the Bristol Foundation and governmental organisations such as the highway department Northern-Bavaria (ABDNB) and the federal agency of nature conservation (BfN).

In close collaboration with local researchers and conservation biologists, we study threatened bat species in different regions of the world, using a combination of behavioural, ecological, and molecular methods. In the field, we use automatic monitoring of animals marked with PIT-tags, radio-telemetry, thermography, and infrared-video monitoring to assess the habitat use and behaviour of our different study species (e.g. Kerth & Melber 2009). To investigate genetic structures, dispersal rates, inbreeding coefficients and individual reproductive success in wild populations we use genetic methods, including analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA microsatellites as well as DNA sequencing (e.g. O’Donnell et al. 2015). Overall we aim at combining research on basic scientific questions with applied conservation. Our studies contribute knowledge and data for national conservation management of threatened bats in different regions of the world (Central and South-Eastern Europe (e.g. Bulgaria, Germany and Serbia), the Caucasus region (Georgia and Russia), as well as Central America, Borneo, and New Zealand). We aim on supporting local conservation authorities, which in several of the aforementioned countries cannot afford to gather such data within the framework of national research programs. Besides their scientific value and implication for conservation, our cooperative international projects often have capacity building effects on future research projects on threatened animals in the respective regions. In Germany we for example have a close collaboration with the Nature Park “Nossentiner-Schwintzer Heide”. Last but not least, education of young scientists from the partner countries involved (e.g. Bulgaria, Brunei, Georgia, Russia, Serbia), via transfer of sophisticated methodological knowledge and “evolutionary thinking”, will be important for future biological projects that try to answer scientific questions of high standard and international significance and that are crucial for nature conservation.