Each year billions of animals move across the planet, connecting continents through their ecosystem services and potential for pathogen transportation.

I'm working to understand how bats use environmental and social information when deciding to migrate, and how physiological condition and immune state modulate this decision-making process.

We have found in common noctules in Germany & Switzerland, for example, that when females migrate to their maternity colonies in the Spring, these bats don't need the large fat reserves that typically fuel bird migration. The image below shows how they weigh the interaction of wind speed and direction with air pressure find the best night for heading northeast as the year progresses.

Photo: Straw-coloured fruit bat takes flight in Kasanka National Park, Zambia. Photo courtesy Christian Ziegler