US: Bats Battle Bugs in California Vineyards
US: Bats Battle Bugs in California Vineyards
Jul 5, 2011 6
Lodi, Calif.—The role of bats in battling bugs in vineyard ecosystems is formally recognized in the Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing and the California Sustainable Winegrowing Practices programs. The Lodi Winegrape Commission held a grower meeting last week focused on bats for integrated pest management (IPM) and ways to encourage their presence in vineyards. Guest speaker and bat expert Dr. Dave Johnston, senior wildlife ecologist with H.T. Harvey & Associates Ecological Consultants, Los Gatos, Calif., summarized the benefits of bats: “Every bat eats its weight in insects every night during the growing season.” Johnston, also an adjunct professor in biological science at San Jose State University and co-author of the California Bat Conservation Plan, has conducted bat surveys and consulted on bat habitat plans for government agencies and corporations in California.
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