![\"Angus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/d5a071fc159539ad13208393627832b1baa469f341946cfd0567ba332a83005c.png\")
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n It\u2019s raining bat poo \u2013 and that could be worth close to $1 billion.<\/p>\n Scientists who sought to estimate the economic value of flying foxes have found that the activity of just one species, the grey-headed flying fox, is worth between $271 and $955 million annually to the timber industry alone.<\/p>\n The study published in Scientific Reports<\/a> also found flying foxes plant about 91 million new trees each year by dispersing seeds and pollinating flowers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe actually think that it\u2019s an understatement, particularly for the number of trees, at least, because we only modelled for the grey-headed flying fox,\u201d University of Sydney research student and lead author of the study, Alfred Ortega Gonz\u00e1lez, said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the other three flying fox species, and how much are they actually contributing?\u201d<\/p>\n The extraordinary effect flying foxes have on Australian forests \u2013 which may have barren scars visible from space if it weren\u2019t for the bats, the researchers speculate \u2013 is down to their unique biology.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are able to carry more seeds, fruits and pollen throughout the ecosystem than many other species,\u201d such as birds, insects and other mammals, Gonz\u00e1lez said.<\/p>\n Grey-headed flying foxes are among the largest megabats in the world, and bats are the only mammals that truly fly rather than glide.<\/p>\n Lifting their heavy bodies skyward requires a turbocharged metabolism and gorging on fruit each night to fuel their 50 to 100-kilometre journeys. As a result, one flying fox can defecate 60,000 seeds in a single night.<\/p>\n Biologists call it \u201cseed rain\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you start adding those numbers up then you start seeing how important they become for Australia in general,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez said.<\/p>\n Wildlife biologist Dr Alexander Braczkowski, who supervised the research, said the team used CSIRO data of 1200 flying fox colonies and mapped the range bats travel from each roost site.<\/p>\n They calculated the grey-headed flying foxes alone help plant and pollinate native trees across an area the size of Sweden. They dubbed the animals\u2019 area of influence the \u201cbat ripple\u201d.<\/p>\n Braczkowski is known for his work in Uganda studying Jacob the three-legged lion<\/a>.<\/p>\n He says their analysis doesn\u2019t even consider other ecosystem services the bats undertake, such as carbon sequestration via the trees the bats plant.<\/p>\n Flying foxes may clash with their human neighbours in the suburbs, but without them, Australia may be far less bushy and biodiverse.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t forget that Australia had bounties on flying foxes until the \u201940s,\u201d Braczkowski said. \u201cThey\u2019d hit them with napalm.\u201d<\/p>\n The biologists hope their study underscores the value of flying foxes as populations collapse under the pressure of land clearing and extreme temperatures made more likely by climate change.<\/p>\n The findings also make efforts to cool flying fox colonies<\/a> during heatwaves all the more worthwhile.<\/p>\n \u201cGiving a dollar value or currency to nature \u2013 personally, I\u2019m not very fond of the idea, although I see the importance of doing it. Nature should be valued for itself, but that\u2019s really a romantic idea,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, money talks, right?\u201d<\/p>\n The Examine newsletter explains and analyses science with a rigorous focus on the evidence. Sign up to get it each week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9cb56305a1e88c6b76bed82e5cde1b9f05a64b6d.jpeg\")
A colony of flying-fox bats is seen over the Peel River in Tamworth, NSW. The creatures make noisy neighbours but are critical to Australia\u2019s status as bushy and biodiverse.Sam Mooy<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/38ec51f60d3059d37ed92ff351faa599160bfb39.jpeg\")
A family of flying foxes at Parramatta Park in January.Sitthixay Ditthavong![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a2ebede93bb19a20cd882a1ceda907786f61773a.jpeg\")
A bat flies through a \u201crain curtain\u201d sprinkler at Yarra Bend Park. The new research makes efforts to help cool bats during heatwaves all the more important.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n![\"Using](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/c76ca225909cc3dfcbb951431ca50fcfc9bbe4f36a3bf137978b3fe0ba15a15e.jpeg\")
Using CSIRO data of 1200 bat roosts, the researchers estimate the scale and influence of flying fox activity \u2013 which they called the bat ripple effect. Ortega Gonz\u00e1lez et al, Scientific Reports<\/p>\n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4a347b58450f667dd45c237e2841dd1415a0fe437226b1fd8fa3740ef6916116.jpeg\")
Dr Alexander Braczkowski, pictured with a sedated lion in Uganda, is known for his conservation research on the predators in Africa.University of Queensland<\/p>\n![\"Flying](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/14538010ca6003ccff0afe4e420522c46b63e62f.jpeg\")
Flying foxes are at risk of mass die-offs during heatwaves.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n![\"Angus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769508917_386_d5a071fc159539ad13208393627832b1baa469f341946cfd0567ba332a83005c.png\")
Angus Dalton<\/a> is the science reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-586443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}