Flying foxes to wilt with climate change, by ABC Science Online's Stephen Pincock, contends that new research shows some of Australia's flying foxes face a grave threat from extreme temperatures expected to become more frequent with climate change.
Dr Nicola Markus, an Australian expert on their ecology and co-author of this new research, says, "It bodes extremely badly for the black flying foxes."
In early 2002, she and an international team of researchers witnessed the deaths of more than 1,300 grey-headed and black flying foxes at Dallis Park in northern New South Wales (most of them females and their dependent young).
"On that day, what we saw was, very simply, that the flying foxes died of heat stress," Dr Markus said. The temperatures, which exceeded 42 degrees Celsius, killed more than 1,300 of the animals. State-wide, more than 3,500 flying foxes fell to the soaring temperatures in that single heatwave.
Flying foxes are keystone species for forest environments. They have also been central to a taxonomic debate, which asks, are they really primates?
In 1986, Dr. John D. Pettigrew published his findings that all flying fox species (examined) shared the half-dozen brain pathways that were otherwise unique to primates. Under a microscope, their brain affinities with lemurs were difficult to tell apart.
Megabats and microbats had been historically grouped together because of the obvious similarities of their handwings. However, Dr. Pettigrew observed that the differences between to two groups included such things as diet, dentition, chromosomes, world geographic distribution, sperm, biochemistry, parasitology and numerous features of behavior. He also hypothesised that the two groups evolved flight separately, with the mega-chiroptera in the Tertiary era and the micro-chiroptera, much earlier, in the Cretaceous.
A bit off topic. There are flying squirrels in Finland and Estonia , living in hollows of old growth trees. Classified by the IUCN as near threatened. It 's almost impossible to detect them in daylight. They are extremely cute.
Check this very seldom documented animal on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0H879n9osE
So we have evidence from as far back as 1929 that Flying-foxes were taking a terrible toll on the Banana industry, to the extent of commissioning the first formal environmental study, and the plodders still have not listed Bananas as a major food source. Yes, that would be par for the course in the brave new green utopia.
How do I quantify a major food source Libby? I note the incidence of FF in a number of local Camphor stands and extrapolate to the total area of Camphor in the region, and compare that with the total area of other native and exotic food sources in the region. One could take it all a step further and examine the duration of fruit supply from the full range of sources to identify any gaps where otherwise small amounts of a fruit provide the critical continuity required.
This glaring oversight is a continuation of the green ideological mindset where only remnant vegetation is considered to be capable of delivering habitat services. As the fruit growers and anyone with a few Camphors knows, this is complete bollocks. But the fact is that no-one, in the current corrupt green intellectual millieu, would ever get funding to reveal how much additional "habitat" is actually out there doing the business.
Better to simply map large remnants only and claim there are serious connectivity issues. Thereby ignoring the contribution of non-remnant regrowth, smaller remnant clusters, individual paddock trees and all the other orchard crops and infrastructure like farm dams etc, that provide valuable linking services in a variegated ecological community. A community in which man, shock horror, actually makes a positive contribution.
Grott probably tethered flying foxes to a camphor laurel until they were on the brink of starvation.
Maybe stapled to the tree.
Singleton (NSW) Council has asked approval to shoot grey-headed flying fox over several months until 2010.
Background info:
http://singleton.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/bats-must-go/1083672.html
http://singleton.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/time-for-big-guns/1087748.html
This species is listed as Vulnerable under the Threatened Species Act.
"Does any of "the literature" list Bananas, Paw Paws and Passionfruit as a major food source of the Flying-fox? Unlikely."
Eby (1995) lists banana, apricots, mangoes and plums as eaten by grey-headed flying fox in addition to their native food, but these items are not listed as "major food sources." Anyone who deals with them in captivity could say banana and paw paw are "major food items".
How do you quantify your "major food items" Ian, including your camphor laurel?
"This is more of that moronic logic where anything that is not officially mentioned cannot possibly exist. It would be laughable if it were not so pathetic."
Not at all. When someone researches a subject and publishes their results, they back up each piece of information with references - evidence of other research that supports their claims. This can also be anecdotal evidence, however must be from a reliable source (after all, who is to say the anecdotal evidence is for real?). Research of the fruit bat study kind can not rely on anecdotal evidence alone. Your assertion that "moronic logic" exists is simply a denial of the way things are done in the world of science. Perhaps you should do your own study and publish the results, or even document your bats and send a little note to a flying fox researcher?
"Indeed, does any of the literature actually examine what hungry Flying-foxes will resort to when gaps occur in the forest fruit supply?"
Yes, for example there is a paper detailing street tree species consumed by fruit bats in Melbourne, however the researchers did not seem to state the physiological condition of the bats as "hungry".
Paul said, "I have access to orthophoto and Spot 5 imagery across the north coast and I can tell you that continuing habitat modification, clearing and degradation is no fantasy".
Good, Paul, then you can post some examples so we can confirm whether your "habitat modification" is actual change in remnant forest or just some guy cleaning up some Lantana. Almost all of what has been officially mapped as rainforest in my area is actually gullies full of Lantana. Neither the orthophotos nor the under-resourced, under trained staff employed in compiling the maps can tell the damned difference. I know of one guy who resigned rather than put his name to the crap they were expected to sign off on.
And then, Paul, we might get down to quantifying your "degradation" to get a handle on what you actually mean when you say "continuing habitat modification etc is no fantasy"? Do you mean some minor changes can be detected? Or are you just trying on the usual sleazy imputation of large scale activity without actually saying so?
And that is real interesting that "None of the literature states that Camphor Laurel is a major food source for the Flying Fox". Because you had better tell that to the guys on my place that certainly prefer Camphor berries to White Cedar.
This is more of that moronic logic where anything that is not officially mentioned cannot possibly exist. It would be laughable if it were not so pathetic. Does any of "the literature" list Bananas, Paw Paws and Passionfruit as a major food source of the Flying-fox? Unlikely.
Indeed, does any of the literature actually examine what hungry Flying-foxes will resort to when gaps occur in the forest fruit supply?
And it is all very well to rabbit on about the extent of the big scrub etc but the last of the big scrub was cleared 80 years ago, when Ratcliffe was a lad. Ditto for the coastal lowland forest which was mostly cleared in the 1890s. These morons who speak about it in general terms as if it only just took place are either deluded or seriously dishonest.
So are you guys suggesting ever so discretely that Mottsa may have actually perpetrated a few porkies, analagous to the sole surviving batch of plants on the mate's farm myth.
Perhaps macrochiropterans such as flying foxes will evolve echolocation in response to global warming, much like the microchiropterans developed it during the Palaeocene-Eocene warming period (see Gingerich, 2006). This way they can utilize the aerial invertebrate fauna, if it can adapt to climate change as well of course. The bats themselves will have survived the hot dry days by the green movement installing air conditioning units in their camps.
Thanks very much for your information Paul. I was wondering about the Camphor Laurel.
Man faces 35 years in prison for killing trees. Watch up Motty! Arbocide says judge.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-treeman4dec04,0,4847761.story?coll=la-tot-national&track=ntothtml
>Paul, that last paste is pure bull$hit. "
So the leading flying fox researchers don't know anything? You’re clearly not a fan of the NSW scientific committee are you?
>The most significant urbanisation has been on the Tweed coast but most of this is on land that had been thoroughly strip mined for mineral sands in the 1960s and revegetated with Casuarina (not a FF food source).
So how much of the lowland coastal vegetation of the Tweed Lowlands and Clarence Lowlands remains? The sort of high quality lowland and wetland habitat that Flying Foxes establish camps and maternity colonies in. For example, Bellingen Island, Susan Island and Stotts Island. That is alluvial floodplain forest. The answer is extremely little. The answer for the big scrub rainforest that once occurred across the basalts soils around is Lismore area is less than 1%. Most of this would’ve been lost early this century. Forcing Flying Foxes to seek alternative food supplies, and establish camps in places where didn’t have to previously.
>That would be the main reason for the reports of minimal change in the north Qld populations despite the shift of Banana production to that
Who says this? Please provide references. My comments are at least backed up by literature, by a census of camp fly outs.
>So to suggest that the more than 1 million hectare forest resources of the NSW north-east has undergone any significant level of habitat modification is pure fantasy.
>I have the 1942 and 1953 aerial photographs to prove it. And the same industry drivers applied in all the other Shires.
I have access to orthophoto and Spot 5 imagery across the north coast and I can tell you that continuing habitat modification, clearing and degradation is no fantasy.
>In Byron Shire the area of Camphor Laurel, now a major food source for fruit bats, has expanded to more than 5000ha of mapped clusters and an equivalent area of dispersed thickets that are too small for the map
None of the literature states that Camphor Laurel is a major food source for the Flying Fox.
>They pile unfounded statements upon others in a complex, corrupt assemblage of referenced misinformation.
That was what I was thinking when I read your statements. The only word that would change in your case would be unreferenced.