Bats of Mammoth Cave

Abstract

Bats that inhabit caves have been misunderstood and maligned for centuries. Yet they seem mysteriously to draw researchers and visitors alike to their underground dwellings for a glimpse into their world. Indeed some species of bats spend more than 80% of their life in caves. Still they must leave the cave to obtain food when it is accessible. The food for these nocturnal true-flying mammals in the Mammoth Cave area is insects, exclusively. The consumption of large quantities of night-flying insects is one of several benefits bats provide to surface ecosystems and to humans. In cave ecosystems, insects consumed by bats on the surface provide nutrients (energy) to these generally nutrient-poor environments primarily in the form of guano (Culver and Pipan 2009). Despite the critical role bats play in ecosystems, many species face a variety of threats to their survival and some have experienced marked population declines. In fact, Mammoth Cave was formerly one of the largest bat hibernacula in the world. Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis), and to a lesser degree gray bats (M. grisescens), were prominent species in Mammoth Cave 150 years ago, but today they are listed as federally endangered. Relatively few bats use Mammoth Cave today and with the latest threat—a new fungal disease of bats called “white-nose syndrome”—this number may be greatly reduced in the near future. Nevertheless, measures to protect and restore bats and bat habitat have been implemented in Mammoth Cave, and opportunities to take additional conservation actions continue to arise.