Science Diary: Bat Count Protecting
Music; Ambiance: Transmitter Beep, highway sounds
In between a highway and an apartment complex, a colony of bats is making their summer home. Welcome to Pulse of the Planet’s Science Diaries, a glimpse of the world of science from the inside. Al Hicks is a wildlife biologist with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. Typically he spends April putting radio transmitters on Indiana Bats – which hibernate in New York State – to monitor where they live. That’s the sound of a tracking device beeping in the background. Until recently these bats have been thriving in this region.
“This kind of a setting, this little patch of habitat, looking around, this might be 6 acres, gives these guys a refuge, in what is otherwise a fairly built up region. And Indiana Bats are small they’re only about the size of your thumb. They’re not like a mountain lion that requires huge amounts of biomass to keep them going. I wouldn’t be surprised that these kind of little refuges here and there throughout a otherwise largely developed region might be able to sustain them. One of the big issues that we have with this species down the road will be trying to get a handle on how much space do they need to make a go of it. Because of development pressures, here’s a good example, we’re right on the edge of Syracuse, wherever you drive you see new housing developments going up. How much do we need to protect to make sure this species can make it here?”
Over this past year, a new threat has been afflicting local bat populations. Thousands of New York’s Indiana Bats have died from an unexplained illness. And it’s happening in a region that was once a haven for this endangered species. We’ll hear more in future programs.
Pulse of the Planet’s Science Diaries are made possible by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.