Natural History of Bat Foraging

A Natural History of Bat Foraging: Evolution, Physiology, Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation offers an all-inclusive resource on all aspects encompassing the vital process of foraging for bats. The book explores knowledge in the field, including sensory ecology, the development of cognitive maps, bat microbiomes, and molecular approaches to studying a bat’s diet. It covers the importance of foraging in biology, from evolution and natural selection, to physiology, behavior, ecology, and natural history. In addition, it provides a unique focus on the implications of bat foraging for conservation purposes, including the role that molecular biology can play in preventing species depletion or extinction. With over 1,400 species, bats are among the most diverse vertebrate groups, having evolved an astonishingly broad range of foraging strategies to adapt to nearly all global regions and environments. The book assesses manmade and environmental issues that bats must overcome to ensure survival and prevent extinction. Written by international leaders in bat research, this is the ideal resource for bat specialists and conservationists, as well as zoologists, animal behaviorists, and academics associated with such disciplines.

Danilo Russo is the head of the Wildlife Research Unit and an associate professor of Ecology at Naples University Federico II and an honorary member at the University of Bristol, UK. He received his PhD from the University of Bristol in Nature Sciences. His interests include habitat selection, resource partitioning, sensory ecology, social behavior, evolutionary biology, biogeography, and invasion ecology. Much of his research focuses on bats. Since 2019 he has been chairing the Scientific Committee of the UNEP/EUROBATS Agreement (i.e. the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats). Dr. Russo proudly serves as the editor-in-chief of the top-ranking zoological journal Mammal Review. He is also the main proposer and the chair of the Management Committee of the EU COST Action “CLIMBATS” (CA18107). Prof. Russo has published over 140 scientific articles. M.B. (Brock) Fenton received his Ph.D. in 1969 for work in the ecology and behavior of bats. Since then he has held academic positions at Carleton University, York University and the University of Western Ontario. He has published over 250 papers in refereed journals (most about bats), as well as numerous nontechnical contributions. He has written four books about bats intended for a general audience. He continues his research on the ecology and behavior of bats, with special emphasis on echolocation and evolution. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Royals Society of Canada (FRSC) in November 2014. In November 2018 he began a three-year term as Deputy Executive Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Science Publishing. In February 2020 he began a three-year term as a member of the Board of Directors of Bat Conservation International. He currently serves as an academic editor for PLoS ONE Biology, and Nature Scientific Reports.