Effects of climate change on the seasonal phenology and survival of individually RFID-tagged bats of three species of the genus Myotis

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Gerald Kerth
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 574029913

Climate change is expected to have dramatic consequences for global biodiversity. Therefore, understanding how organisms respond to climate change is highly relevant from both scientific and applied perspectives. Key questions include whether organisms respond to changing environmental conditions through phenotypic plasticity or genetic adaptation, or a combination of both, and how these mechanisms affect population survival in a changing world. The ability to hibernate is widespread among mammals. However, it is still unclear how hibernators will respond to climate change. On the one hand, their ability to reduce energy consumption by entering torpor could enable them to cope with changing environmental conditions. On the other hand, their slow life cycle could make them particularly vulnerable to a changing climate. Currently, there are very few long-term datasets available to reliably assess the phenology and survival rates of different hibernating species. This is particularly true of bats, which constitute a significant proportion of hibernating mammal species, but which are difficult to study due to their small size and mobility. In this project, we are combining data from three long-term datasets to address this issue. Our study is based on detailed, long-term behavioural, demographic, and genetic data from bats that have been individually tagged with RFID transponders. Thanks to their longevity and high site fidelity, these tagged animals can be studied in the field over many years. By studying a large number of individuals from three species of Myotis living at three field sites in Germany, we aim to answer new research questions about the relationship between weather — as an indicator of climate change — and the seasonal phenology and survival rates of long-lived, hibernating mammals.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Jaap van Schaik; Dr. Saskia Schirmer