Australia’s flying foxes offer valuable services & deserve better reputation: Study

Australia’s flying foxes offer valuable services & deserve better reputation: Study

Each night, a dark cloud of flying foxes, or fruit bats, moves through the skies of eastern Australia on their way to gorge on nectar and fruits. With a meter-wide (3.2-foot) wingspan, they transport large quantities of pollen and rain down seeds in their poop, helping establish new trees. A new study in Scientific Reports provides the first economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by flying foxes in Australia, focusing on their sig…