An endangered species, the Indiana bat faces an immediate threat of total extinction because not enough bats are born to replace those that die. For several years, the entire population of Indiana bats has continued to rapidly decline, says Mike Lacki, associate professor of wildlife ecology in the UK College of Agriculture. Lacki and forestry graduate student Jeff Schwierjohann have been studying the above-ground habitat requirements of these bats. Lacki says he has worked extensively with several resource agencies in Kentucky and shares his research findings with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the Nature Conservancy, and the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission. These bats are important to the ecology of the area, according to Lacki.
Bats are the primary night-flying predators of insects.
In the temperate zone, most bats feed exclusively on insects. They decrease the overall impact of agricultural pests such as beetles and moths. Several bat species eat these pests in the adult stage, thereby reducing the numbers in the larval, or pest stage. This way, bats provide important ecological controls. As important as bats are to the state's ecology, they are difficult to study.