North American bats are very helpful to our society and our
environment. They help people by eating mosquitoes that eat us alive and help with
the pests that destroy our crops and damage them. But lately, their populations
are decreasing at an alarming rate. The cause for their decline in population
is because of the expansion of agricultural lands across the world. Also, they
are plagued by a disease called white-nose syndrome, which is decimating their
population. While heavily farmed areas do provide a place to find the corn
earworm moth, the supply of crops varies throughout the growing season, which
in turns changes the amount of food bats find. When crops do not ripen or
flower, there is not enough food source for all the bats. This in turn, makes
natural habitats a must for bats in order to keep their populations.
There are a is ways
that we can save the bat population. We can stop destroying their habitats for
our purposes( we can find other places to start a farm and plant for our food
purposes). These animals help us greatly by eating the pests and mosquitoes
that bother us so much and destroy our crops. We can also save bats by finding
other land that was used before( like an old factory or store) and plant there
instead of destroying the habitats of these animals.
The possible
barriers that might not make this possible are the ways of thinking of people
today. They only think about themselves and not the environment and the animals
that inhabit it. I am not saying that all of them think this way but most of
them do.
The hope that I get
out of this article is that we try to save these gracious animals that help us
in so many ways that we can not think of. People need to understand that these
animals are very helpful to us. But people just don’t realize it. I really want
to save these animals because they will help us with the pests and mosquitoes
that bother us so much.
I found this topic very interesting, as my brother is a bat research scientist each summer. I have had multiple conversations regarding the bat populations over time. Even in the four years he has interned, Zack has seen a tremendous reduction in bat statistics. This is alarming because, as Christos states, “they help people by eating mosquitoes that eat us alive and help with the pests that destroy our crops and damage them.”
ReplyDeleteWhen my brother speaks about bats, his focus is more on the impacts of natural gas pipelines and the manufacturing of other natural resources. It is the production of these goods that often destroy caves and dead trees bats call home. “The United States government has identified this issue and has passed legislation requiring special restrictions in areas where endangered bats are known to be located.”
It is my belief that instead of focusing on agricultural problems, we need to focus on the industries that, according to my brother, make the most impact on bat numbers. I feel that the new legislation is a great start, but some areas should be labeled as untouchable by natural resource industries due to high bat populations.
In addition, Christos briefly discussed the white-nose fungus. This is a Eurasian fungus that drains bat’s energy when they are in hibernation. Since this came over to the United States in 2006, it “has decimated about 5.7 million northern long-eared bats.” My brother states that caves that have allowed this disorder to manifest see bat fatality at rates as high as 90 percent. The bats that do survive with this fungus often do not live to full maturity. In an analysis of Christo’s solutions, I fully believe that scientists should place an emphasis on finding a scientific remedy to the white-nose fungus, as this is what has created the substantial decreases in recent years.
The truth is that bats are some of the most influential insectivores. We need to do anything to save them before our industries and the white-nose fungus completely exterminate their population.
All quotations are located in: http://powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/policy-powersource/2015/05/12/New-rules-to-protect-threatened-bats-could-affect-natural-gas-well-construction-Pennsylvania-Marcellus-Shale/stories/201505050004
Awareness of the People
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, Christos. Bats are very helpful creatures that eat mosquitos and other insects that could be detrimental to our crops. If the bats were to go extinct, the whole world would be chaotic. Disease-carrying mosquitos, that were once eaten, would run rampant, spreading the disease everywhere. Many people are unaware of the important role of the bats. Due to today's society, bats are associated to be bloodsucking pests. I believe people should be educated on the importance of bats and the consequences of letting them go extinct.