 PROFESSOR
OF BIOLOGY
Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, 1971
Email: kunz@bu.edu
Physiological and behavioral ecology of mammals
My research largely focuses on how free-ranging mammals acquire and
allocate energy and nutrients during reproduction. I am interested in
patterns of parental investment and the energetic costs of pregnancy
and lactation in temperate and tropical bats. A related area of
interest is intraspecific and interspecific variation and energetics of
postnatal growth in bats. Specifically, I am interested in determining
factors that affect postnatal growth rates, including the quality and
quantity of food available to the mother, energy and nutrient quality
and quantity of milk output of the mother, and the maternity roost
environment. Energy expenditure and allocation are determined using a
combination of techniques, including body composition analysis (using
extraction methods, calorimetry, and TOBEC), roosting metabolism (using
standard respirometry), field metabolic rates and water flux (using
doubly-labeled water), and time-activity budgets (using radiotelemetry,
video monitoring, and direct observation). In collaboration with
Professor Eric Widmaier (Boston University), we are also investigating
the role of leptin in the regulation of nightly feeding and seasonal
reproduction in free-ranging bats. (Research funded by the National
Science Foundation.)
We
also study the behavioral ecology of tropical bats. In particular, I am
interested in species that modify leaves of epiphytes, palms, and other
plants by chewing both primary and secondary veins so that leaves
collapse downward, forming so-called "tents." Recently, we have
discovered that single males construct tents and recruit females with
whom they mate. Tent-making behavior is investigated by capturing and
censusing roosting groups, direct observation, radiotelemetry, infrared
video recording, and DNA analysis. We are testing alternative
hypotheses which may explain the evolution of tent-making behavior,
including reciprocity, mutualism, and kin-selection, the effects of
social structuring and forest fragmentation on the genetic structure of
natural populations. (Research funded by the Center for Ecology and
Conservation Biology and the Lubee Foundation, Inc.)
We are trying to assess the ecosystems services of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis),
a species that forms one of the largest aggregations of mammals known
to mankind. These insectivorous species feed on a wide range of aerial
insects, some of which are considered to be major agricultural pests,
including corn earworms and cotton boleworms. In collaboration with
Professors Margrit Betke, Stan Sclaroff, and Cutler Cleveland (Boston University), and Gary F. McCracken (University of Tennessee), we
are using infrared thermal imaging to census bats as they emerge
nightly from caves, NEXRAD II Doppler radar to assess landscape
patterns of nightly dispersal, and economic modeling to assess the
impact that this insectivorous species has on a major agroecosystem in
Texas. (Research funded by the National Science Foundation.)
In collaboration with Professors G. F. McCracken and T. Hallam (University of Tennessee), M. D. Sorenson and E. P. Widmaier
(Boston University), we are investigating environmental influences on
the prevalence of rabies in bats. This research has focused on big
brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis).
We are investigating how stress hormones may influence the adaptive
arms of the immune system and how stress may affect reproductive success. (Research
funded by the National Science Foundation.)
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