First it was Colony Collapse Disorder with the mysterious and worrisome problem of disappearing bees. Now, bats across North America are dying too and this further threatens the sustainability of organic agriculture.
Bats are of significant importance to agriculture in general. They are of particular value to organic agriculture due to their amazing pest control abilities. A single Florida brown bat, for example, can eat over 3,000 insects in a single night! In 2006, bats living in South-Central Texas were shown to have an annual pest control value of three quarters of a million dollars. This represents nearly 30% of the entire value of the annual cotton crop for that area.
Bats assist bees with pollination duties as well. Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination including mangoes, guavas, dates, and bananas. The Agave plant, used in the production of tequila, also depends on bats for pollination.
In essence, bees are the pollinators of the day, and bats are the pollinators at night! Reuters estimates the value of bats to US agriculture approaches $23 billion annually.
Why Are Bats Dying?
What is killing America’s bats by the hundreds of thousands? No one knows for sure, but a fungus called White-Nose Syndrome which bats frequently pick up during hybernation, is a primary suspect for the seven species it affects. It seems unlikely that this is the only cause, however, as European bats also suffer from this widespread illness and are not dying from it.
The increased popularity of wind turbines across the US is another culprit as thousands of dead bats have been found near wind farms. Sudden changes in pressure near the turbines have the potential to collapse the tiny lungs of bats as they fly and swoop nearby to avoid the turning blades.
Like with Colony Collapse Disorder, it seems that GM crops and pesticides need to be investigated immediately as contributing reasons for this alarming bat decline which already could threaten the extinction of some species.
The critical and undervalued role of bats in organic agriculture needs to be recognized before it’s too late. Fortunately, organizations like the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Bat Conservation International are working feverishly to save these tiny mammals whose survival is so interlinked with our own.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
Sources: US Forest Service
FastCompany, March 2011, Why an Epidemic of Dead Bats Could Make Your Groceries More Expensive
I suppose one of the things I could do is put up a bat house. I seem to remember Sarah posting a bat article a few months back. I wouldn’t mind some additional friendly creatures around the place.
Ciao,
Pavil
Once again man is messing up.
Hi Sarah,
Is there anything we can do to put an end to all of this? It seems that boycotting any foods that are GMOs and not organic would be great. However, few people really care about their health and the environment.
Hi Erica, it’s sad how few people care but all we can do is take care of our own home environment and what we choose to spend our money on, so we can always choose wisely and hope the trend catches on!
There has been some findings of disease in some of the colonys. I believe it was a parastite that caused them to not be able to absorb the food they were eating. While this hasn’t been found in all cases, I think this needs to be studied alot more.
Wow! Thanks for sharing. I hadn’t even heard about this! We’ve been thinking of building bat houses, and will probably get them up soon. How many more species of animals have to die before they stop with the chemical warfare in our food! scary!
“Worrisome” seems like an understatement… this is insanely scary! It’s unbelievable that issues like this don’t get more attention, and that mega-companies and Big Ag can ignore them. Clearly, man’s manipulation of the earth is NOT providing satisfactory results!
Thank you for raising awareness with this post. It’s hard to know what to do with information like this, but it provides great motivation to vote with our dollars and do our part to support organic systems of food production.
When I read things like this I can’t help but think G-d knew what he was doing and man has to keep messing it up!
Doesn’t this information seem to be coming at us at an increasingly fast and furious rate? It is impossible to keep on top of everything to keep us and our families healthy as well as to try to go against all this ridiculous government intervention.
I wonder, Sarah, if you think there are good strides being made anywhere on these fronts. To me, it often seems that we are just getting more and more under a pile of issues to fight.
It is all very overwhelming, Adrienne. I’ve got a bat house on my property (the tree died, will have to move it) and spray nothing on our 2 acres so try to provide a haven as best I can with what we have. That’s all we can do. Be informed and make the changes that we can personally and hope others follow suit.
It is a very serious situation. Bats are an undervalued and little talked about aspect of organic agriculture despite the critical role they play.
First bees and now bats – is there a connection?!