For the first time that scientists have demonstrated the pest suppression services of insectivorous bats and birds in Southeast Asia. Miss Bea Maas, a PhD student from University of Goettingen and her colleagues, found that exclusion of bats and birds from cacao trees resulted in a significant increase in herbivorous insect abundance in cacao plantations of central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The authors also found the exclusion of top predators caused a reduction of 31% of the fruit yield and an estimated loss of 730 USD per hectare annually!
Bea Maas, Yann Clough and Teja Tscharntke. 2013. Bats and birds increase crop yield in tropical agroforestry landscapes. Ecology Letters
Email Bea to obtain a copy of the pdf — beamass(at)gmx(dot)at
