1. The context and function of ultrasonic vocalizations in Peromyscus. In the laboratory, rats and mice are used as models for understanding acoustic communication.  However, our understanding of how rodents use acoustic communication in nature, where these behaviors are most relevant from an evolutionary standpoint, is limited.  In the wild, deer mice (Peromyscus) produce a wide array of vocalizations, most of which are in the ultrasonic range.  The long-term goal of this research is to use wild Peromyscus as a model to examine acoustic communication.  The first step is to demonstrate the potential for a communication function of vocalizations produced by wild Peromyscus by establishing that they are common, species specific, structured, and vary in a predictable manner.  Our next project will determine if production of vocalizations by wild Peromyscus is frequent and whether acoustic structure of vocalizations varies with individual context.  To do this, we record ultrasound from individual wild Peromyscus species at the Hastings Natural History Reserve in Monterey Co., California.  We combine our recordings with remote telemetry and imaging.  Current students working on this project are graduate students Rada Petric, Jessie Briggs and Kitty Carney. NSF Abstract This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0641530.  Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the material presented herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

2. Investigating the foraging ecology of bats in an urban stream system. North and South Buffalo Creeks are headwater streams in the Cape Fear River Basin in North Carolina.  North and South Buffalo Creeks downstream of point-source pollution from water treatment plants constitute some of the worst water quality problems in North Carolina.  The ecosystem level effects of the impaired water quality in the headwaters of the Cape Fear River Basin are not well understood but there is a very simple food web in these Piedmont streams that allows for investigations of the impacts of point-source effluent on North Carolina’s wetland systems.  At night aquatic insects in the orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Trichoptera (caddisflies), Odonata (damselflies) and Diptera (flies), emerge from the streams.  During the night bats are top predators in stream ecosystems that prey on emergent aquatic insects.  Thus, in this simple food web, both bats and insects have the potential to show a response to the impaired water quality.  The objective of our research is to understand the effects of wastewater effluent on stream ecosystem function and to specifically investigate the response of insectivorous bats to water enriched by wastewater effluent.  We test our hypotheses with a combination of analyses that examine bat foraging behavior, insect community structure, and bat diet using both standard and stable isotope techniques.  Results of this project will add to our understanding of the effect of point-source wastewater effluent on stream ecosystem function by specifically addressing how wastewater affects the prey base of top predators and how top predators respond to changes in the prey.  Our behavioral results suggest the potential for bats to be used as bioindicators of wetland ecosystem health.  UNCG student working on this project is graduate student Lindsey Shiftlet.

3. Influence of intensive pine management on bat community structure and foraging activity in the North Carolina Coastal Plain. In the coastal plain of the southeastern United States, forested wetlands have been modified for use in agriculture and intensive forest management.  The coastal plain of North Carolina is no exception with 47% of total land area (6 million ha) comprised of coastal plain, and 60% of this classified as timberland.  Predominant features of silvicultural landscapes on the North Carolina coastal plain include edged habitat (from active forest management), modified sources of water (from ditching), and various seral ages of forest stands include unmanaged forest, young open-canopy plantation, pre-thinned plantations, and open-canopy thinned plantation.  Bats are among top nocturnal insectivores in the coastal plain ecosystem and are part of a relatively simple nocturnal food web as bats prey on insects that are either primary or secondary consumers in the water or in vegetation.  Because of the relatively simple bat-insect food web, it is a good model to use when looking at how silviculture activity may affect foraging behavior of wildlife. Our purpose is to determine how bats respond to an intensively managed pine landscape in the North Carolina coastal plain.  Specifically, we will determine the impact of modified water sources (drainage ditches) on foraging ecology of different bat species in an intensely managed pine landscape and we will determine the importance of edge habitat to foraging ecology of different bat species within the intensely managed pine landscape. Current UNCG students working on this project are graduate students Melissa Vindigni and Adam Morris, and undergraduate student David Allgood. Our collaborator on this project is Darren Miller, Weyerhaeuser Co.