The Economic Value of Bats to U.S. Agriculture: Research

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Here’s an example which highlights the interconnections between Biodiversity and Economic output in agriculture:  an interesting discussion on the economic value to US agriculture of bats (the paper is set in the context of the recent dramatic reductions in bat populations) — https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=4f68c0fcc1&view=att&th=12f2bf541dc08258&attid=0.3&disp=attd&zw

Bats provide an economic value of $12-173/acre to US agriculture (most likely average value is $74/acre) — around $22.9 billion/year for the entire country — the dollar amount is the market value of yield increases due to the crop pests that bats consume (just one bat colony in Indiana ag country consumes 1.3 million pest insects/year).

And from another publication, this is an interesting tidbit: “The infestation rate of sweet corn (maize) by the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), was reduced by over 50% in test plots that were exposed to ultrasound broadcast at frequencies, amplitudes, and pulse rates characteristic of bat calls.”