Chapters authored
Bats and Ecosystem Management
Bats are among the most misperceived and undervalued animals on the planet. For wildlife ecologists, they are wonderful and incredibly fascinating creatures, but people’s feelings about bats are often negative, perhaps because bats are so mysterious. Unfortunately, these fears and myths about bats threaten conservation, biodiversity, and the entire ecosystem. Bats are among the most diverse and geographically dispersed group of living mammals. They contribute to several ecosystem services and act as biological pest crop control agents. Their abundance may reflect changes in populations of arthropod prey species. Also, bats have significant potentials as bioindicators that demonstrate measurable responses to climate change and habitat loss and that induce large-scale impacts on the biota. Indeed, bat conservation is fundamental not only for biodiversity, but also because these flying mammals provide essential ecological and economic services to humans.
Part of the book: Bats