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Co-evolution between hosts and parasites in free-ranging bat populations; and
Cooperation, coordination and cognition in complex societies
(PD Dr. Gerald Kerth)
Research Interests
Current Research
My research is multi-disciplinary and aims at a comprehensive understanding of the proximate and ultimate causes and consequences of different
animal social systems. We focus on social mammals and their ecto-parasites, and more recently on social insects, and my students and I work
both in the field and the laboratory. Using several bat species as models, we study cooperative behaviour, dispersal, mating systems,
group decision-making in fission-fusion societies, and host-parasite dynamics. Recent projects on animal social systems study hornets
in the field. In our research we combine behavioural, comparative, ecological, molecular, physiological, in vivo magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) and simulation based methods. In the field, we use modern techniques such as automatic monitoring of animals marked
with PIT-tags, radio-telemetry, thermography, and infrared-video monitoring. Genetic methods include analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial
DNA microsatellites and DNA sequencing.
Using a comparative approach we could show that the evolution of sociality in male bats was probably driven by opportunities for social
information transfer (Safi and Kerth 2007). In female bats the situation differs between species but in general benefits from communal
breeding seem to explain sociality best (Kerth 2008). Combining genetic data with field observations revealed that Bechstein’s bats
(Myotis bechsteinii) live in complex social groups that are characterised by fission-fusion dynamics and cooperation.
Females transfer information about communal roosts, allo-groom each other, and make group decision about where to roost next.
We found evidence for complex communication, group recognition, and flexible context-related social interactions
(Kerth and König 1999, Kerth et al. 2001a,b, 2002a, 2003a, Kerth and Reckardt 2003, Kerth et al. 2006, Safi and Kerth 2003,
Siemers and Kerth 2006). In several bat species, including Bechstein’s bats, we studied how the social systems and
genetic population structures are influenced by different mating systems (Kerth and Morph 2004, Dechmann et al. 2005)
and dispersal strategies (Kerth et al. 2000, 2002b, 2003b, Kerth and Petit 2005, Dechmann et al. 2007). We found dispersal behaviour
to differ strongly between species, ranging from strict female philopatry (Kerth et al. 2000) to the dispersal of both sexes
(Dechmann et al. 2007), with differences in dispersal patterns being linked to differences in mating systems. Despite such inter-specific
variation of bat social systems, the social system of a given species can be conserved over large geographical distances and over
populations that live in different environments and have different phylo-geographic histories (Kerth et al. 2008).
Overall my research on bats contributed to the emerging understanding that bat social systems are far more complex than was
previously imagined (Kerth 2008). Further research interests in bats include habitat choice (Kerth et al. 2001a, Dechmann et al. 2004),
host-parasite interactions (Reckardt and Kerth 2005, 2007, 2009, Bruyndonckx et al. 2009), and conservation biology (Kerth et al. 2003,
Safi and Kerth 2004, Safi et al. 2007, Kerth and Melber 2009). We use our data to understand processes relevant for the protection of
threatened species and suggest directions for the management of habitats and the monitoring of bat populations.
During the last 16 years, I established a long-term study on the Bechstein’s bat in Central and Eastern Europe.
This project, which now includes several international collaborations, allows detailed insights into the influence of the social
structure and the environment on the genetic composition, ecology, and behaviour of bat populations, and the relationships with two
ecto-parasites (wing mites and bat flies).
I possess long-term data on the demography, fitness, morphology, parasite infestation, behaviour, and relatedness of more than
300 PIT-tagged individuals from 4 colonies that live in forests near the city of Würzburg, where most of my field studies take place.
Further field data are available for another 6 colonies, where the bats are marked with aluminium bands. Allele frequencies
(8-11 nuclear and 1-2 mitochondrial microsatellites) and morphological data are available for about 3000 individuals from 60 colonies
(breeding sites) and 25 swarming sites (mating sites) located all over Europe (Fig. 1). In addition, since 2002, I have collected
comparable field and genetic data from 3 brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) colonies whre bats are marked with PIT-tags and
that live in the same area as one of the studied Bechstein’s bat colonies. The available long-term data on Bechstein’s bats and
brown long-eared bats provide an extensive database on which our projects can build upon.
Fig. 1: Distribution of the Bechstein’s bat and our study sites. The grey area shows the range of the species.
The size of the symbols representing our study and sampling sites reflects the number of individuals/colonies studied.
Current co-worker and students
Master students
Van Schaik, Jaap (2009): Genetic population strcuture of two bat parasites with a different transmission mode (Master at the Univ. of Groningen)
Erasmy, Maude (2009): Grouping benefits and decision-making in a small colony of female Bechstein’s bats (Master at the Univ. Jena)
Leinert, Vera (2009): When consensus costs get to large: group decisions in a large colony of female Bechstein’s bats (Master at the Univ. Osnabrück)
Kuntscher, Carolin (2009): Social organisation and queen control in polydomous colonies of Vespa crabro (Master at the Univ. Würzburg)
PhD Students
Melber, Markus (started 2005): Raumnutzung Wald bewohnender Fledermausarten mit unterschiedlicher Ökologie (PhD at the Univ. Würzburg)
Fleischmann, Daniela (started 2009): Group decision-making in fission-fusion societies (PhD at the MPI für Ornithologie in Seewiesen)
Field assistants
Caro Schöner and Manuela Parchem
Contact Assistant to the director
Carmen Dobus
Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße
Haus Nr. 5
82319 Seewiesen
Tel: +49 (0) 8157 932 - 232
Fax: +49 (0) 8157 932 - 400
Click on the name and then type the following text: 
 E-mail: Carmen Dobus
 Website: http://www.orn.mpg.de/kempenaers/abtkempenaers_en.html
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