Batting for the Home Side

Archived

Wednesday, 28 August 2002

Research on bats in relation to organic farming is currently being undertaken by Liat Wickramasinghe, a student at Bristol University. He has been comparing paired organic and non-organic farms in areas across southern Britain. Although the study is ongoing, already he is finding that the greater number and variety of insect species, as well as the more diverse habitat, is resulting in a higher rate of bat foraging activity on organic farms. In particular he has noted higher numbers of Daubenton’s bats which prefer water habitats and concludes that this is due to the normally poor water quality on conventional farms. Horseshoe bats were found only organic farms (see also Bats About Organic Farms below).
Source: Mammal News, Autumn 2002