With over 1400 species worldwide, bats play a crucial role in our environment. From controlling the populations of insects to pollinating plants, their influence reaches far and wide.
Insect Control:
Bats can eat over 1000 mosquitoes each night which helps not only at stopping the itchy bites, but also it helps stop the spread of disease. Not only do they eat mosquitoes, but they eat many agricultural pests which not only helps farmers but helps the bats themselves as it allows farmers to use less pesticides that harm the bats.
Pollination and Seed Dispersal:
Along with eating insects, they also help to pollinate plants. Some plants like the banana tree, mango tree, and avocado tree rely on the bats to pollinate them. When some species of bats go to eat the nectar from a flower, they’ll get the pollen on their snout and then it spreads to other flowers that they go to eat. Along with pollination they help plants by spreading seeds.
Declines in population: Nearly half of the bat species in The United States have been labeled as in severe decline or as endangered. Factors like disease, climate change, and habitat loss have contributed to the loss of over one million bats during hibernation. It is important to protect bats, without them, many ecosystems would end up failing as bats would no longer be able to disperse seeds, control pests, and pollinate.
Bats are vital to some environments. Over 500 species of plants are pollinated by bats; plants like the banana, eucalyptus, cocoa, and mango trees rely on bats for pollination. They also help stop the spread of disease by consuming insects, they help improve farmer’s crops by consuming pests, they disperse seeds and pollinate plants. It is vital that we protect the habitats of bats.
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