PD Dr. Dina Dechmann

If I had to categorize myself I would call myself a classical behavioral ecologist with a passion for evolution. My emerging focus is increasingly on the role that resource distribution in time and space plays for animals. What are the strategies animals use in terms of their behavior, morphology, and physiology to deal with daily, seasonal, or even rare bottlenecks in resource availability?
In terms of behavior, a strong focus is on movement, for example of flying foxes, the energetics of tropical and European bats, and information transfer in a foraging context when resources are unpredictable in space and time but clumped and can be shared. I am strongly involved in the ICARUS initiative which will finally let me track the migration of my flying foxes.
In terms of morphology, I like to use traits that describe the foraging ecology of animals, for example, wing shape in comparative approaches. A strong focus is also on seasonal phenological changes, especially the brain.
Our group is small and international and we like it that way - contact me if you are interested in what we do!