Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Long-term datasets quantifying survival and movements of known individuals can lead to exceptional insight into the ecology of natural animal populations while providing information critical for conservation and management. When combined with knowledge of genetic relatedness of individuals, and phenotypic measurements of behavioural or physiological traits, this can enable study of mechanisms of natural selection and evolutionary change within populations. These datasets exist for a few species of rodents and ungulates but are lacking for the vast majority of mammals. I propose to use passive integrated transponders (PIT tags) to individually mark large numbers of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) from hibernacula in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, while also collecting phenotypic measurements and tissue samples for molecular analysis. Pilot work from our study sites has confirmed that PIT tags and a custom-designed antenna system can provide excellent long-term data in this study system because we have access to large numbers of animals that reliably pass through small openings amenable to monitoring using PIT antennas. This proposal is highly time-sensitive because of predicted impacts of White-Nose Syndrome, especially on little brown bats, within the next several years. I propose to outfit large numbers of bats with PIT tags prior to the arrival of WNS, while also obtaining genetic samples from all of these individuals, and phenotypic measurements from as large a sample as possible. This work will allow my students and I to quantify selection on molecular, behavioural and physiological traits in response to environmental variation and disease.