APRIL 2,
2019
Not only do
intact ecosystems delight the eye of nature lovers, they also help people
financially. However, it is difficult to put an exact figure on how much money
they actually generate in specific cases. For the first time, researchers at
the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, together with their
colleagues from Sweden and Ghana, have now calculated the ecological and
financial benefits of straw-coloured fruit bats in Africa.
Every night,
individuals of this bat species fly long distances to their feeding grounds in
the course of which they disseminate the seeds of the fruits they consume.
According to the researchers, a colony of 150,000 animals disseminate more than
300,000 small seeds in a single night. This is sufficient to kickstart the
regrowth of 800 hectares of forest – for
a single colony. Thus, both forests and humans could benefit from better
protection for these creatures, which are primarily at risk from hunting.
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