Kirsten "Kisi" M. Bohn Graduate Student Department of Biology University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Contact  Information Degrees,  Positions Interests and Current Research Publications

Contact Information

E-mail:       kbohn@wam.umd.edu
Telephone:   301-405-0374 (batlab)

Degrees, Positions

BS Ecology, Animal Behavior and Evolution	University of California, San Diego	1990-1994
MS Zoology	Idaho State University	1996-1999
PhD student under Dr. Gerald Wilkinson	University of Maryland	1999-present

Interests and Current Research

My major areas of interest are animal communication and behavioral ecology. I am particularly interested in social communication and cooperation in bats. I am currently conducting research on greater spear-nosed bats (Phyllostomus hastatus). This species is of interest because females live in stable social groups with relatively low levels of relatedness. This type of stable social structure is rare (usually stable groups are composed of kin) and a prerequisite for reciprocal altruism, making greater spear-nosed bats excellent subjects for studies into cooperation.

For my doctoral research, I am investigating perception of isolation calls, parental care, and cooperation in P. hastatus. Isolation calls are used in parent-offspring recognition and are emitted by non-volant pups when they fall from roost sites. If pups are not retrieved by an adult death is likely through starvation or predation. As isolation calls are the main signals that attract females, the ability to recognize calls should be a major factor in female retrieval behavior. Preliminary research indicates that females may be providing alloparental care by protecting group mates' pups that have fallen as well as "babysitting" pups while group mates are foraging. For my thesis research I will be examining perception and behavior by combining psychoacoustic experiments on isolation call perception and field research on female behavior.

Publications

Bohn, K. M. 1999. Roost Site Selection by Silver-Haired Bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) and the Effects of a Selective Timber Harvest on Bats Populations in Caribou National Forest. M.S. Thesis, Pocatello, Idaho. 91 Pp.