Yet the roles of most nectarivorous bats remain unstudied, even ones suspected of being crucial to economies valued at more than a hundred million dollars annually. Numerous bat-dependent trees are of great importance as sources of tropical timber, food, or other commodities. Anecdotal reports of durian crop failures exist from the Philippines to Malaysia due to declining bat populations. Documentation could play a key role in gaining conservation progress. Nevertheless, only a handful of studies exist, and bats typically are not even considered in long-range plans for sustainable use of tropical forests.
More detailed information is needed on bat seed-dispersal roles under varied conditions.
In fact, rain forest conservation and land-use planning cannot be complete without such information. Few studies document bat roosting needs, especially during critical nursery or hibernation periods. Yet such knowledge is essential to inclusion of bats in forestry, cave, and mine-land management planning, as well as in efforts to provide artificial roosts. Yet few surveys exist to document bat population trends in caves, much less the exact roost characteristics or surrounding habitats required by cave-dwelling species. Today, bats are often found barely surviving in cave roost sites that in the long run cannot meet their needs, while nearby, traditional and potentially ideal roosting locations are no longer useable due to human disturbance.