North American Bats at Risk

A new report, the inaugural report from the North American Bat Conservation Alliance, says that roughly half of the continent's 154 bat species are at risk of population declines.  Bats are particularly valuable to ecosystems as insectivores, pollinators and seed dispersers. Bats even draw tourists to Austin, Texas which boasts an urban  Mexican free tail population that roosts under a highway bridge.

The report found that wind turbines kill about a half a million bats a year. Wind turbines can be installed in ways to minimize their impact on bats and birds. Diseases, notably white nose syndrome caused by a fungus, has devastated the long-eared bat populations that extend from Alabama to British Columbia,  Habitat loss and climate change also play a large role in depopulation. The endangered Florida bonneted bat is one species suffering from climate change and urban development. [tri-colored bat, photo credit: C. Francis]

Some species have recovered thanks to human intervention. The same techniques can be employed to prevent a collapse of America's bat populations. A federal appeals court stopped tree cutting on a fifty-three mile segment of a clean energy project in New England to protect endangered long-eared bats roosting to give birth in June and July.  According to the report 99% of this species has died from white-nosed fungus.