<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">Thanks to Hilda Diaz Soltero for forwarding this.<BR>
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(Embedded image moved to file: pic21231.jpg)Greenwire <BR>
An E&E Publishing Service<BR>
SPECIES: Studies indicate bats help plants, farmers (Friday, <BR>
April 4, 2008) <BR>
Scientists are investigating the ecological and agricultural role <BR>
of bats in tropical ecosystems -- and finding good news for plants<BR>
and farmers alike. According to two studies in the journal Science<BR>
, bat predation reduces insect damage to plants, good news for <BR>
farmers looking to decrease their use of expensive pesticides. <BR>
Using their sonar-like abilities, bats snatch insects out of the <BR>
air in pitch blackness, and sometimes directly off plants by <BR>
hearing them land on leaves -- "or even the sound of a caterpillar<BR>
chewing on a leaf," said Kimberly Williams-Guillen, a researcher <BR>
at the University of Michigan. <BR>
But few scientists have investigated whether bats have a <BR>
discernible influence on insect populations and crops. In earlier <BR>
experiments, scientists covered some plants with netting and <BR>
cages, protecting insects from being eaten, and then months and <BR>
years later compared the number of insects on the caged plants to <BR>
those on plants in open air. Fewer insects crawled on uncaged <BR>
plants, the scientists concluded, because birds ate many of the <BR>
bugs during the day. <BR>
Williams-Guillen wondered if nocturnal bats weren't contributing <BR>
to the difference. At an organic coffee plantation in Mexico, she <BR>
repeated the study of uncaged and caged plants, but added a third <BR>
group of plants that were caged during the day and exposed at <BR>
night, and a fourth group that was caged at night and exposed <BR>
during the day. <BR>
The study found that bats accounted for a large part of the insect<BR>
consumption -- especially during the wet season in summer, when <BR>
bats reproduce and mother bats have to eat copiously to nurse <BR>
offspring. In the winter months, an influx of migrating songbirds <BR>
arrive from the U.S. and Canada, increasing their share of <BR>
consumption relative to bats. <BR>
The findings could influence farmers' decision to grow coffee <BR>
under shade trees, the preference of many environmentalists, or in<BR>
direct sunlight, which is thought to produce higher yields. But <BR>
the trees increase bat predation of insects, a factor that may tip<BR>
the scales toward shade-grown coffee. <BR>
"Bats are as important as birds in limiting insects in these <BR>
coffee plants," Williams-Guillen said. "No conservation or <BR>
land-management planner would overlook a group as important as <BR>
bird. Our work shows that bats, too, should be included." <BR>
The number of bats is believed to be declining in many parts of <BR>
the world (Kenneth Change, New York Times, April 4). -- PR <BR>
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Laurie Davies Adams<BR>
Executive Director<BR>
Pollinator Partnership<BR>
425 Washington Street, 5th Floor<BR>
San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>
415 362 1137 (p)<BR>
415 362 3070 (f)<BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><B>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2008. Create or attend an event in your state. Visit www.pollinator.org National Pollinator Week for complete details.</B></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><I>Join the Pollinator Partnership working to protect agriculture and ecosystems - visit www.pollinator.org</I></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
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