Programme

15th  International Bat Research Conference
Prague, Czech Republic, August 23-27, 2010

 

The scientific programme of the Conference will consist of (i) contributed sessions, (ii) symposia, mostly composed of lectures invited by the symposia conveners, and (iii) workshops. The morning and afternoon sessions will be opened by (iv) plenary key-note lectures presented by top personalities of each field, reviewing the essential stepping stones to the current state of bat research and discussing the conceptual and methodical innovations that have appeared in recent decades, as well as the gaps in knowledge and issues worthy of particular attention in the near future. The oral presentations of contributed sessions and Symposia will appear in parallel sessions, and all posters will be on display throughout the whole Conference. The organizers will try to reserve time windows for informal discussions, workshops, and social gatherings and to arrange suitable conditions and environment for these to take place. There will be a set of optional sight-seeing excursions for accompanying persons and a shuttle bus operating between the Conference venue and airport or town centre.

 

A half day excursion with a barbecue at a castle ruin (inhabited by several species of bats) is included in the conference program, three optional two-day post-conference excursions will supplement the conference program by a visit to the wine region of southern Moravia and Moravian karst area, the fish ponds region of southern Bohemia, and the sandstone regions of the northern Bohemia, respectively.

 

The preliminary time schedule is as follows:

22 Aug                      arrival of participants, registration at the Conference venue, welcome party

23 Aug - 27 Aug        scientific program with plenary key note lectures at the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions, parallel symposia and contributed sessions  including *evening poster session (24 Aug),  *a half-day excursion (25 Aug), *student awards, *closing meeting with concert and Farewell reception (27 Aug)

28-29 Aug                  post-conference excursions (optional)

 

 

Keynote lectures (plenary)

 

K1

Estimating diversity:  how many species of bats are there?  

Nancy Simmons

K2

Chiropteran ancestry and early divergences. 

Gerhard Storch, Joerg Habersetzer, Bernard Sige

K3

Of molecules and bats: a genomics perspective. 

Emma Teeling, Marianne Volleth

K4

 Otto von Helversen memorial session:

Energetic ecology of bats.  Christian Voigt.  Biology of foraging. Elisabeth K.V. Kalko

  K5 

Sensory world of a bat. 

M. Brock Fenton, Bjoern Siemers, Gareth Jones

K6

 Life history and social biology.

Gerald Kerth

K7

Advances in Aeroecology - An Emerging Discipline. 

  Thomas Kunz

K8

 Bat Conservation: past, present and future.

   Paul Racey

 

 

Symposia

 

               S1:            

Past to Present: Fossils and the Evolutionary History of Bats.

Gregg Gunnell

              S2:            

Adaptations and Evolutionary Ecology.

David Jacobs, Robert Barclay

              S3:             

    Gerhard Neuweiler Memorial Symposium on Echolocation in Bats.

Björn M. Siemers, Gareth Jones

               S4:             

Speciation dynamics and taxonomy.

Manuel Ruedi, Petr Benda

               S5:             

Bat extinctions:  past, present, and future.

Nancy Simmons, Liliana Davalos

              S6:            

                     Integrating information across multiple molecular markers – current and future studies in bat genetic research.

Stephen J. Rossiter, Pavel Hulva

           S7:             

 New Approaches in the Study of Bat Flight.

   Sharon Swartz, Anders Hedenström

              S8:             

Movement Ecology of Bats.

Thomas H. Kunz, Paul M. Cryan

              S9:             

Global bat Monitoring and Bioindication.

Kate Jones, Tomas Bartonička

              S10:          

         Bat and parasites: implications for social life, disease transmission, and co-evolution.

Gerald Kerth, Philippe Christe

              S11:          

         Bat-fruit interactions: new findings from individual to community level.

Marco A.R. Mello, Elisabeth K.V Kalko

              S12:          

           Diversity Patterns and Processes – from Local Assemblages to Continental Gradients.

Jakob Fahr, Tigga Kingston

              S13:          

Social and vocal complexity in bats.

Mirjam Knörnschild, Martina Nagy

              S14:          

      Anthropogenic impact on bats: from fragmentation to urbanization.

Kirsten Jung, Elisabeth K. V. Kalko, Raphael Arlettaz

    S15           

Divers ity, systematics and conservation of South American bats

Valéria Tavares, Ludmilla M.S. Aguiar, Enrico Bernard , Renato Gregorni

S16:

Bats as inspiration for biomimetic robots

Annemarie Surlykke, Elisabeth K.V.Kalko