{"id":26825,"date":"2020-04-29T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T04:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=26825"},"modified":"2020-04-28T18:53:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T22:53:42","slug":"bats-voracious-appetite-for-agricultural-pests-and-mosquitoes-are-a-part-of-natures-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/04\/bats-voracious-appetite-for-agricultural-pests-and-mosquitoes-are-a-part-of-natures-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Bats’ Voracious Appetite for Agricultural Pests and Mosquitoes Are a Part of Nature\u2019s Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, April 29, 2020) The terrible reputation with which bats are commonly saddled \u2014 especially now, because of their association with the origins of the family of coronaviruses<\/a> \u2014 is undeserved. These nocturnal insect vacuums are fascinating, flying mammals that are under-appreciated, not least for their performance of important services for ecosystems, and for human health and agriculture. Investigators from Israel\u2019s Ben-Gurion University and the Section for Evolutionary Genomics at Copenhagen\u2019s Natural History Museum recently published a study<\/a> demonstrating that bats can be a mighty tool against pests that damage cotton crops. Bats\u2019 pest control services \u2014 relatively invisible because they do their insect marauding at night when humans are not watching \u2014 represent an excellent, nontoxic, biological control for some agricultural pests, as well as for mosquitoes that may be human disease vectors. Advocates say that these services should be well considered before any decision to use toxic pesticides that can harm bats, as Beyond Pesticides has covered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study,<\/a> \u201cAn appetite for pests: Synanthropic insectivorous bats exploit cotton pest irruptions and consume various deleterious arthropods,\u201d was published in Molecular Ecology<\/em><\/a>. [Note: \u201csynanthropic\u201d species are those plants or animals that live near, and benefit from, association with humans and the habitats people create around or in response to them.] The subject of the study is a small bat, Kuhl\u2019s pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii<\/em>), which roosts and forages in such habitats: urban, exurban, and agricultural areas. The research, undertaken in cotton fields in central Israel, looked at this bat\u2019s consumption habits by studying trace DNA of its prey in the bat\u2019s droppings.<\/p>\n

The scientists were particularly interested in P. kuhlii<\/em>\u2019s consumption of a notorious cotton crop pest, the pink bollworm<\/a> \u2014 a formidable threat in much of conventional cotton growing because it can easily develop resistance to the pesticides marketed for use with genetically modified cotton seeds. It seems that Kuhl\u2019s pipistrelle loves<\/em> the pink bollworm: as bollworm populations swelled, the bats preferred and ate more of them than of any other insect species. The scientists concluded that these bats\u00a0exploit pink bollworm irruptions by opportunistic feeding, and that the bats provide \u201cimportant pest suppression services.\u201d Professor Carmi Korine, Ph.D., one of the study paper\u2019s authors, notes<\/a>: \u201cWe should be aware of the functional importance of common species of bats in urban environments for ecosystem functioning and human society. . . . particularly now, when bats are negatively and often unjustifiably stereotyped due to COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s conclusions underscore the importance of bat species and their services. Bats are the only nocturnal insect predator in the U.S., and are one of two primary nocturnal pollinators (along with moths) \u2014 important roles for night-flowering plants and for farmers. The two species of brown bats (the \u201cbig\u201d and the \u201clittle\u201d) most common in the U.S. are voracious, consuming 3,000\u20137,000 insects per night. In some regions, these creatures also provide fertilization through deposits of their guano; notably, there is a thriving commercial fertilizer industry that uses guano as a primary ingredient.<\/p>\n

As mentioned, bats consume mosquitoes that can carry diseases to humans, such as West Nile virus<\/a>, Eastern equine encephalitis, Zika virus<\/a>, malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and others. Many localities and states continue to use aerial pesticide spraying<\/a> (\u201cadulticiding\u201d), as well as some biological controls and source reduction measures, not only in declared public health emergencies, but also and too often, for \u201cnuisance control.\u201d Pesticide use to control mosquito populations<\/a> is misguided, at best, because of its harmful impacts on human health<\/a>, ecosystems, and the very organisms that prey on mosquitoes, and because it is often ineffective<\/a>. There are alternatives to spraying toxic pesticides for mosquito control<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A 2011\u00a0study\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>in the journal\u00a0Science\u00a0<\/em>estimates that bats provide annual pest control services to agricultural operations worth between $3.7 and $53 billion. Bats are also considered an \u201cindicator species,\u201d<\/a> meaning that\u00a0 they interact with many elements of their ecosystems, and that their well-being is a barometer for the health of those ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Bat populations in some regions are shrinking alarmingly due to myriad threats, including pesticides, habitat destruction, and white-nose syndrome<\/a> (WNS), a fungal disease to which several cave-dwelling bat species are particularly susceptible. WNS first spread through bat populations in the eastern U.S. and Canada, but has now expanded as far as the West Coast. In some areas, bat species have lost 90% of their local populations to the disease. WNS causes bats to behave uncharacteristically<\/a> \u2014 waking up more frequently during the winter, and flying during the day, and thus, using up their limited fat reserves too quickly, leaving them debilitated. Estimates of bat losses to WNS range from 5 to 7 million since the onset of the fungal disease in 2006.<\/p>\n

Bats are also vulnerable to pesticide exposures<\/a> through their dusky and nocturnal foraging for insects that may have been sprayed by pesticides or may have fed on pesticide-treated plants. Because bats are unusually long-lived for animals their size \u2014 lifespans range from 20 to 40 years \u2014 their bodies can accumulate pesticide residues over a long period, exacerbating adverse effects associated with those pesticides that can accumulate in fatty tissue. Also, during migrations or winter hibernation (when their fat stores are metabolized), bats\u2019 consumption of large volumes of pesticide-contaminated insects can mean that these compounds may reach toxic levels in their brains \u2014 making them more susceptible to WNS<\/a>. Bats also tend to have only one offspring each year, making them vulnerable to the population impacts of negative reproductive effects caused by pesticides, because low reproductive rates require high adult survival rates to avoid population declines.<\/p>\n

Beyond Pesticides will continue to advocate for pollinator species, including bats. There are many ways that the public can support these inky and slightly chimerical creatures, and protect them from pesticides. Learn more at Beyond Pesticides\u2019 pollinator protection page<\/a>, Hedgerows for Biodiversity fact sheet<\/a>, and alternatives to spraying page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sources: https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/bats-arent-all-that-bad-just-ask-israeli-cotton-crops\/<\/a> and https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/mec.15393<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, April 29, 2020) The terrible reputation with which bats are commonly saddled \u2014 especially now, because of their association with the origins of the family of coronaviruses \u2014 is undeserved. These nocturnal insect vacuums are fascinating, flying mammals that are under-appreciated, not least for their performance of important services for ecosystems, and for human health and agriculture. Investigators from Israel\u2019s Ben-Gurion University and the Section for Evolutionary Genomics at Copenhagen\u2019s Natural History Museum recently published a study demonstrating that bats can be a mighty tool against pests that damage cotton crops. Bats\u2019 pest control services \u2014 relatively invisible because they do their insect marauding at night when humans are not watching \u2014 represent an excellent, nontoxic, biological control for some agricultural pests, as well as for mosquitoes that may be human disease vectors. Advocates say that these services should be well considered before any decision to use toxic pesticides that can harm bats, as Beyond Pesticides has covered. The study, \u201cAn appetite for pests: Synanthropic insectivorous bats exploit cotton pest irruptions and consume various deleterious arthropods,\u201d was published in Molecular Ecology. [Note: \u201csynanthropic\u201d species are those plants or animals that live near, and benefit from, association with humans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249,464,352,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-bats","category-biodiversity","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBats' Voracious Appetite for Agricultural Pests and Mosquitoes Are a Part of Nature\u2019s Balance - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/04\/bats-voracious-appetite-for-agricultural-pests-and-mosquitoes-are-a-part-of-natures-balance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bats' Voracious Appetite for Agricultural Pests and Mosquitoes Are a Part of Nature\u2019s Balance - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, April 29, 2020) The terrible reputation with which bats are commonly saddled \u2014 especially now, because of their association with the origins of the family of coronaviruses \u2014 is undeserved. 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The study, \u201cAn appetite for pests: Synanthropic insectivorous bats exploit cotton pest irruptions and consume various deleterious arthropods,\u201d was published in Molecular Ecology. 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