In this article, josé de la Cruz Mora, who works in Cuba to protect the Cuban large funnel-eared bats, introduces cuban bats and emphasizes their importance to the local environment and the threats they face.
Cuba has 26 extant species of bats, the largest in the West Indies, accounting for more than 45 per cent of all species in the region. As an island, Cuba's wildlife emerged as a result of multiple colonization and extinction events, which has led to the current presence of small vertebrates and endemic species. José explained that 70 percent of Cuba's wildlife are bats, and due to their ecological flexibility and ability to adapt quickly, they come to the island and survive.
Bats and ecosystems
Bats are a key component of cuba's ecosystem, and they are pollinators on the island after bees, helping to maintain the structure and function of ecosystems. For example, fruit-eating bats play a role in building forests due to their feeding strategies.
One of the most common strategies for fruit-eating bats is to move fruit from the original tree to safe branches to eat, which weighs up to 1/4 of their body weight. This act distributes millions of seeds every night, helping to create new forests and protect the structure of existing trees.
Bats also play an important role in maintaining human health on the island. Because many bats eat insects, bats help keep their numbers controllable.
More than two-thirds of bat food is made up of insects. Bats are the most efficient plague control mechanism in Cuba and the world, consuming a quarter of their body weight every night for mosquitoes and other insects that affect human health.
Bats inhabit all the different terrestrial ecosystems of Cuba. This is due to the island's large size, many suitable habitats for bats (such as caves), and its proximity to other landmasses (North and Central America). Jose outlines how so many bats live together in Cuba:
It is common for more than a dozen species of bats to share the same forest in high density. In some areas, 16 species of bats can be found sharing this dry forest close to the sea. This way of using habitat is possible because each type of bat is evolving, using different forest resources at different times, meaning bats don't compete for resources. This ingenious ecological adaptation is also known as species isolation.
Bats and caves
While bats can also be found in forests and swamps, one of their most famous and indispensable places is the cave. Bats help protect the wildlife and the dynamics of the caves they inhabit.
Cuba does not lack caves, and this area is particularly rich. Most terrestrial environments rely on trees to produce fruit, which is the source of energy for the entire food chain. However, there are no trees in the cave, so bats fill the gap. After foraging, bats return to their habitat with resources. Inevitably, some food will fall to the ground of the cave and be eaten by the small animals in the cave. These creatures are then eaten by larger insects, which in turn are eaten by larger vertebrates at the top of the food chain. In this way, bats keep the entire ecosystem running. José added that bats are not uncontrolled: In Cuban caves, the top of the food chain is occupied by Cuban owls and Cuban pythons, who prey on bats and control their numbers.
Cuban bats
Despite being well studied, many people still don't like bats. José believes that this fear arises thanks to the way bats inhabit the landscape – dark and ominous. In addition to that, Jose said, many people describe bats as "winged rats," and the widespread association of the animal with vampires in the film does little to help their image. In addition, because of the fear of contracting diseases from bats, people tend to completely eliminate bats.
Jose hopes to raise appreciation of bats through his research. He firmly believes in the importance of experts: "Once people see bats in the hands of experts, the thoughts of fear and disgust disappear." This is most evident in children, who show great enthusiasm and interest in these ancient new mammals. ”
He also believes that in order to support his current conservation efforts, a new generation of researchers, scientists and social communicators must be trained. Under the leadership of the Pinaldel Museum of Natural History, Jose hopes to change the misconceptions about bats through a training program. The programme has involved researchers from the University of Binarder, the local primary school and two national parks in western Cuba.
Bat research methods
Studying bats is not always easy: "The methods used include invasive capture devices such as fog nets, which can put stress on captured bats and can have an impact on the body". Jose thanks the new technology: "Advances in new technology allow the study of bat communities using non-invasive methods, such as night vision photography and video or bat ultrasound detectors. The use of photographs and cameras offers the possibility of obtaining new information about the life dynamics of bat species and their ecological interactions. Other good things are that this information has a strong visual component and is important to support the museum's educational mission in the national park. ”
Jose explained that the ultrasonic bat detector is a key piece of equipment to help study bat communities. Such detectors are non-invasive in nature and can be used frequently without disturbing bats – allowing them to exhibit natural behavior and community dynamics. Scientists can use audio monitoring to precisely map bat community composition, as each bat species has a unique call that forms a special sound imprint.
"The structural features of these calls are so special that they can identify the species of bats by echo-localizing calls." Ecological studies based on sound recording are very effective in describing the structure and composition of bat communities. ”
The threat of bats
When it comes to the threats facing bats, Jose's point is very realistic:
The biggest threat to the survival of Cuban bats is the destruction of forests and the transformation of caves, which are key habitats for the Cuban bat fauna that mainly inhabit caves. We believe its conservation should be the result of collaboration to promote research and habitat management.
Of the 26 species of bats in Cuba, 4 should be considered endangered, 4 are vulnerable to extinction, 12 are threatened, and 6 are in a stable state. Most bat species endemic to Cuba are threatened in some form.
Jose de la Cruz Moura
Jose de la Cruz Mora is a biologist who specializes in the ecology and conservation of Bats in Cuba. He graduated from the University of Havana and is a full-time researcher at the Natural History Museum of the Province of Binar del Rio de Janeiro. He is involved in various research projects at the national and international levels. He has also contributed to several conferences in Cuba and abroad and has been awarded the Academy Award five times by the Cuban Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the Latin American Bat Conservation Project, the Zoological Society of Cuba, which is supported by the Zoological Society of London and the Foundation.