Recently, researchers have used camera traps to confirm that foxbats in Southeast Asia can pollinate durians, an important cash crop.
Researchers have recently found that the fox bat does not harm durian trees and actually helps pollinate.
摄影：Joel Sartore，National Geographic Photo Ark
Written by: Mary Bates
In Southeast Asia, durian is known as the "King of Fruits" and is a very popular local fruit. Recently, scientists have learned through research that this foul-smelling delicacy has a very important and unexpected friend in nature: foxbats.
Fox bats have long been saddled with the notoriety of destroying crops. However, a recent study published in Ecology and Evolution used camera traps placed in Malaysia to find that fox bats are actually important pollinators of durian.
Durian is a tropical fruit known for its pungent taste and unique texture, and is an important cash crop in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. However, due to its unbearable smell, durian is banned in some places.
"Studies like this on the beneficial aspects of bats are very important because we need evidence to disprove the negative perceptions that bats are accustomed to in people's minds," said Sheema Abdul Aziz, lead author of the new study and president of Malaysia's NGO Rimba.
"We need to do more research on the ecosystem benefits of bats, so that people can have a deeper understanding of bats, and then let them realize the importance of protecting bats."
Durians are already known to pollinate durians, but the latest research suggests that larger flying foxes also pollinate them.
摄影：Gabby Salazar，National Geographic Creative
Bats like fox bats fly to flowering durian trees to feed on nectar. It has long been widely believed that such large bats with a wingspan of more than one meter destroy durians, but evidence of this lacks.
Aziz, who is also a visiting scholar at the University of Southampton in the UNITED Kingdom, recently led a team to Tioman Island in Malaysia, where infrared cameras and camera traps were deployed in a durian garden on the island.
Members of the study, which included professional tree climbers from the Malaysian Tree Climbers' Association, disregarded the dangers of crisp branches of tall trees and were also wary of giant bees attacks, and eventually set camera traps, Aziz said the findings showed that the effort was worth the effort.
"We finally got definitive evidence that the camera captured images of the fox bat pollinating the durian as it ate nectar," Aziz said.
Small bats were previously known to pollinate durians, but foxbats were deemed unable to accomplish this task because of their size.
The captured video shows that the fox bat's predatory behavior did not destroy the durian, which actually played a positive role in the successful pollination of the durian.
"This is a groundbreaking study that addresses the huge knowledge gap between bat pollination ability and bat yields on crops," said Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez, an ecologist at mexico's National Institute of Technology who was not involved in the study.
Flying foxes are seriously threatened by hunting and habitat loss. Globally, the number of fox bats is decreasing. In Malaysia, the flying fox is also an endangered species.
Throughout the tropics, bats are major pollinators of some important cash crops, including agave cacti in the southern United States and Mexico. The next time you drink tequila, don't forget to thank the bats.
"We are facing a pollination crisis due to a sharp decline in bee populations, and it is very likely that the threat posed by humans to bees will also affect other pollinators, such as bats," Says Zamora-Gutierrez.
"Bats eat nectar while also helping to pollinate fruit trees, which benefits humans tremendously, and our food safety and happiness are closely linked to them," she says.
(Translator: Stray Dog)