Bat Decline May Pose Threat to U.S. Farming

U.S. farming could be facing a potential threat; decline in the country’s bat population. Bats in the U.S. are dying by the hundreds of thousands due to the so-called White-Nose Syndrome and efforts to save them could prevent billions of dollars in agricultural losses.

In a paper published in the journal Science, bat researchers estimated that a single colony of 150 brown bats in Indiana eat around 1.3 million pest insects a year and that the total value of such bats to U.S. agriculture may be around $22.9 billion a year.

Scientists criticized a lack of funds in the article and the efforts to save the bats and to find out more about what is causing their widespread population decline.

“Bats are among the most overlooked, yet economically important, non-domesticated animals in North America and their conservation is important for the integrity of ecosystems and in the best interest of both national and international economies,” the scientists, led by Justin Boyles of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, wrote in the publication. ◆