With Halloween approaching, researchers explain why everyone should care about bats
Bat expert and ecologist Joseph Johnson featured in national news
Faux bats make for great Halloween décor, but they are more so a necessary part of the ecosystem, year-round, says Joesph Johnson, a University of Cincinnati bat expert and ecologist.
Ohio’s little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus, aka the little brown myotis). Photo/Keith Christenson
“I just try to get people to appreciate the wonder of bats and try to get people to understand the value of bats,” Johnson said in a recent news article syndicated to yahoo.com and msn.com that debunks bat myths and lists the many benefits to preserving a strong bat population. For example, bats eat insects that are detrimental to crops and save billions of dollars as a natural pesticide.
The article, which first appeared in The Erie Times-News, highlights current efforts underway to save dwindling populations that have been ravaged by disease and Johnson is leading research on the decline of Ohio’s little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus, aka the little brown myotis), using information technology to save habitats and track the population.
The little brown myotis is an endangered species in Ohio and is currently under review for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW). A fungal disease, called white-nose syndrome, brought into the U.S. from Europe has been killing the species since 2006; reducing its population by approximately 95%.
In the article, Johnson gives tips on how to welcome bats by placing bat box houses on tall posts in partial shaded areas on their property. Bats prefer the boxes being placed posts instead of on trees or buildings. Being fixed on a posts allows the bats more area to enter and exit the box.
Johnson joined UC’s School of Information Technology, in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, in the fall of 2022.
Read more about Johnson's bat research.
Featured image by iStock Photo/subjug.
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