The Nature Pages from OUTRIDER

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	Bat Ecology by Thomas H. Kunz and M. Brock Fenton University of Chicago Press, 2004		The Date Creek Silvicultural Systems Research Project
	Not since the 1982 publication of Ecology of Bats has anyone produced a comprehensive work on bat ecology. This book, written primarily for professional ecologists and conservation biologists, focuses on important discoveries made in the intervening two decades.
	The editors of this volume, Thomas H. Kunz and M. Brock Fenton, are both biologists with other books on bats to their credit. Here they have included contributions by 28 separate researchers, reflecting not only the diversity and complexity of bat ecology, but also a growing interest in studying the flying mammals.		"It is now possible to generalize that tree-roosting bats typically select tall trees that are in the early stages of decay and are less cluttered than random wildlife trees. Although the species of roost tree may differ from forest to forest. general attributes are similar, resulting in higher densities of roosting bats in older forest stands." Conservation Ecology of Bats
	Organized into three major sections, the book successively covers "Life History and Social Biology," "Functional Ecology" and "Macroecology." Within these sections are arranged 15 individual chapters disclosing recent research findings in specific areas, from bat-insect interactions and ecomorphology to bat migrations and the ecological diversity of bats.
Browse our selection of new, used and out of print  natural history.	"Few would disagree with the assessment that Chiroptera is a diverse group of mammals," write Nancy Simmons and Tenley Conway. "With approximately 1,100 extant species recognized worldwide, bats are second only to rodents in terms of total numbers of species." Their report on the "Evolution of Ecological Diversity in Bats" describes bats as a textbook case in mosaic evolution and admits that the current understanding of geographical patterns of diversification are sketchy at best.		Also by Thomas H. Kunz Bat Biology and Conservation Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats Also by M. Brock Fenton The Bat: Wings in the Night Sky Bats Just Bats
	A growing recognition of the importance of bats in many ecosystems has led to increased scrutiny of the animal's role in insect control, pollination and seed dispersal. Papers on these issues are collected primarily in the section on Functional Ecology, where authors discuss the relationships between bats and insects, flowers, and fruit.
	Certainly a "state of the field" collection of current inquiry, this volume will be of great benefit to students, resource managers and conservationists as well as professional scientists.