Bats worth billions

Ever since bats literally began falling out of the Northeast winter sky four years ago, scientists have raced to understand a mysterious illness that has caused bat populations to regionally decline more than 70 percent.

The crash is unprecedented – the little brown bat is expected to become extinct in 20 years from the illness - yet public reaction has, at best, been muted. Researchers blame the “ewww” effect: Panda and polar bears have a lot more going for them in the cute department.

But now, researchers at Boston University and elsewhere have documented just how much these bats are worth to the U.S. agriculture industry: At least $3 billion.

In one of two new analyses, both co-authored by BU bat expert Thomas Kunz, researchers conclude that natural pest-control services by insect-eating bats save the U.S. agriculture sector at least $3 billion a year and as much as $53 billion a year.

The illness, known as white-nose syndrome, and bat fatalities at large scale wind farms, could lead to substantial economic losses on farms, the analysis, which appeared in Science, noted. The other study focused on ecosystem services – benefits from the environment that increase human well-being - that bats provide and was published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

“Given the continued plight of bats from white-nose syndrome and impacts of wind energy development on bats, and the limited funding available from our federal government, hopefully these papers will provide a wake-up call,’’ Kunz said in an email, as to why the public “and government decision makers, should care about bats.

The Science study noted farmers could start noticing the lack of bats in the next five years as pests attack more crops. For example, the estimated loss of one million bats in the Northeast in recent years has probably resulted in between 660 and 1,320 metric tons of insects no longer being eaten each year by the animals.

White nose syndrome – named for a fungus that appears on bats noses and other body parts - first appeared in New York and in the last four years has spread southward and westward into 17 states and in eastern Canada.