Acoustic mirrors project

Recently it was revealed that bats try to drink from the artificial smooth horizontal surfaces and they collide to vertical surfaces because of these surfaces’ echo-acoustic properties. However, we know little about the ecological consequences of this phenomenon in natural and artificial environment. It is already known that the light polarization of artificial surfaces attracts many insects, but we don’t know in what extent the bats exploit this phenomenon as a food resource, and does it have any harmful effects on bats. The study of this topic is urgent due to the spreading of artificial smooth surfaces and its potential deleterious environmental effects. We plan experiments on the field and in the laboratory to explore the direct and indirect effects of artificial smooth surfaces on bats taking into account both the optic and acoustic properties of the surfaces.

Visit the website of the Project!

Researchers of the project:

• Nor Amira Abdul Rahman
• Sándor Zsebők
• Gábor Horváth