[Pollinator] FW: *Celebrate Bat Pollinator Day - talking points & photos*

[Kelly Rourke]

Happy Bat Pollinator Day!  Need some photos and talking points to help you share the good news about bat pollinators?  See below (& attached photos) from our friends at Bat Conservation International.

 

·         Nectar bats are specialized for visiting and pollinating flowers and are found in two distantly related tropical and subtropical families, American leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae; 36 species) and Old World flying foxes (Pteropodidae; 12 species). Many additional species in both families are opportunistic flower visitors and pollinators. 

 

·         Worldwide, over 500 species of flowers in at least 67 plant families rely on bats as their major or exclusive pollinators.

 

·         Nectar bats do not have color vision, yet have a keen sense of smell. Their nocturnally opening flowers are usually white in color and often produce a musky scent as an aid to their location.

 

·         Nectar bats pollinate the flowers of many ecologically and economically important plants. Ecologically important bat-pollinated plants include many columnar cacti (sources of fruit)  and agaves (sources of fiber and tequila) that are common in arid regions of North, Central, and South America. Flying foxes are also important pollinators of eucalypts in Australian dry forests. 

 

·         The list of economically important bat-pollinated plants in the New World includes members of Caryocaraceae (seeds are a source of oil) and Malvaceae subfamily Bombacoideae (sources of fruit, fiber, and timber). Economically important Old World bat-pollinated plants include members of Fabaceae (sources of fruit and timber) and Musaceae (source of bananas).

 

Several articles in the BCI BATS archives:

·         Can Bats Save Bananas?

·          <http://www.batcon.org/index.php/media-and-info/bats-archives.html?task=viewArticle&magArticleID=1107> Midnight Raiders of Arizona – Lepto yerbuana

·          <http://www.batcon.org/index.php/media-and-info/bats-archives.html?task=viewArticle&magArticleID=1162> Studying Bats & Cultivating Conservation on Aruba – Lepto curasoae

·          <http://www.batcon.org/index.php/media-and-info/bats-archives.html?task=viewArticle&magArticleID=1151> Finding Priority Sites for Conservation – Lepto nivalis

·          <http://www.batcon.org/index.php/media-and-info/bats-archives.html?task=viewArticle&magArticleID=1142> Flying Foxes Rebuild Madagascar’s Tattered Forests

·          <http://www.batcon.org/index.php/media-and-info/bats-archives.html?task=viewArticle&magArticleID=1027> Bags of Bats, Fruits and Seeds

·          <http://www.batcon.org/index.php/media-and-info/bats-archives.html?task=viewArticle&magArticleID=1015> Restoring Lost Rainforests

 

And check out more education resources at BatsLIVE:   <http://batslive.pwnet.org/> http://batslive.pwnet.org/

 

Bountiful Bat Day!

 

Kim

Kimberly Winter, Ph.D.

NatureWatch National Program Leader

USDA Forest Service, Washington DC

Ph: 703-341-7292

NatureWatch Banner

 

 

 

 





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