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Placing a Dollar Value on Services Provided by Bats

Photo of corn damaged by insects.

One of the most costly and destructive agricultural pests is moth larva. Damage to crops occurs in the early stages. Now that scientists can estimate how bats suppress insect levels, they can help reduce pesticide application costs for farmers.

Credit: Thomas Kunz, Boston University


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Thermal IR video shows Brazilian free-tailed bats emerging from Davis Cave. These cameras have an automated image analysis system that detects, tracks and counts bats that emerge from the cave. In the video, first the original infrared data appears, then the detected bats are shown with white dots, and finally the tracked bats appear with colored trails.

Credit: Margrit Betke, Boston University

 

Photo of Brazilian free-tailed bats emerging from a cave.

Brazilian free-tailed bats emerge from Frio Cave in south-central Texas. Each night they devour destructive crop pests and provide an important service to agriculture.

Credit: Thomas Kunz, Boston University


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Photo of Kunz and his colleagues setting up an infrared camera to census bat populations.

Kunz and his colleagues set up an infrared camera to census bat populations, which protect local corn and cotton crops from agricultural pests.

Credit: Thomas Kunz, Boston University


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Photo of false-color infrared thermal imaging used to census flying Brazilian free-tailed bats.

Researchers use false-color infrared thermal imaging to census flying Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) as they emerge from caves. This image was recorded using an Indigo Systems Merlin mid-thermal infrared camera, at 60 fps.

Credit: Nickolay I. Hristov, Thomas Kunz and Margrit Betke, Boston University


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NEXRAD II Doppler radar which is used to assess landscape patterns.

NEXRAD II Doppler radar allows researchers to assess landscape patterns of nightly dispersal and economic modeling. This will enable them to determine the impact that bats have on agroecosystems in Texas.

Credit: Jason Horn and Thomas Kunz, Boston University


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