Saturday, May 17, 2008

First It Was Bees, Now It's Bats That Are Dying

From here:

The loss of bats may be an even worse concern than the loss of bees [...snip...] They're used to pollinate crops, especially ones that are not natural to the areas in which they're grown, such as almonds in California.
[...snip...]
The first problem people note may be a profusion of mosquitoes this year [...snip...]Ultimately, these diseases are likely to multiply aggressively -- but by then, the bats that keep them under control may be gone.

Major diseases borne by mosquitoes include West Nile Fever, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Malaria, and Dengue Fever. All of them are severe and life-threatening.

Crops may be affected. Bats are significant controllers of many crop-destructive insects. As with diseases, the severity of the risk is dependent on how long it takes to manifest -- the longer, the worse the effects. If pesticide use results in crop loss occurring later, after the bats are gone, then it is likely to be devastating.