They are often misunderstood….these creatures of the night… and myths abound. But bats are about to come under the spotlight at a major conference to be held in Albury straight after Easter.
More than 100 bat enthusiasts including Australian and overseas bat ecologists studying micro and mega bat species and researchers with an interest in landscape ecology and Australian fauna are expected to attend the biennial 13th Australasian Bat Society Conference.
The conference, which is sponsored by Charles Sturt University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society, will be held at CSUs Albury-Wodonga campus at Thurgoona from Wednesday March 26 to Friday March 28.
It is the first time the conference has been held in Albury and organiser Craig Grabham is encouraging local landholders and “anyone who just wants to learn more about bats” to attend. He assured that, while some of the information presented will be statistical and scientific, most of the talks will be palatable to a general audience. Talks to be given by scientists, PhD and Honors students, and people working in the various natural resource management agencies, include such topics as:
- Gods, vultures, starvation, suicide and a pickle jar, the beginning and the end of Vespadelus vulturnus (Little Forest Bat).
- Bat community responses to logging in jarrah forests, South-western Australia
- Batting in Borneo
- The Droopy Bats of South Eastern Australia
- Bat roost boxes: maintenance issues
- Roost selection by Bats in wood-chipped forests
- Bats Collected During a Mammal Survey of the TransFly Ecoregion of Southern New Guinea
As well the conference will have trade displays and information sessions showcasing the latest electronic technology for surveying bats including the Anabat Detector system which uses eco-location calls to survey insectivorous bats. A post conference field trip (bat trapping and detecting) will be held on Friday evening at Wonga Wetlands and Horseshoe Lagoon where nine microbat species have previously been trapped including the threatened Southern Myotis (Myotis macropus).
“People are curious about bats,” said Mr Grabham, who has done an Honors project on insectivorous bats which help control insects in the landscape and who now works for an environmental consultancy company.
Mr Grabham said the conference was “about how great bats are, their importance in the ecological process, and why we should be studying and conserving them more.
“If you want to find out more about bats and want to meet other people interested in bats this conference is a good place to start.”
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