Bat Chat with Dr. Ana Ibarra

by Lynn Davis

lanting agaves in strategic locations throughout the arid landscape between Central Mexico and the U.S. Southwest is one way to sustain diminishing numbers of Mexican long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis) and assure the survival of desert ecosystems, according to Dr. Ana Ibarra, Bat Conservation International’s Strategic Advisor for Endangered Species in Mexico and Latin America. Dr. Ibarra is one of nearly a dozen people interviewed and profiled in a series of videos and short online features that illustrate what is being done to save Endangered Mexican long-nosed bats and diminishing numbers of agaves.

It’s important to understand that bats and agaves have a mutualistic relationship and depend on each other to survive. During the spring and early summer, pregnant Mexican long-nosed bats migrate hundreds of miles north from Central Mexico to give birth to a single pup. Along the way, the bats nourish themselves by sipping nectar from the blooms of agave and other flowering desert vegetation. When the bats drink the nectar, their fur collects grains of pollen and distributes that pollen as they move from bloom to bloom.

Bats are an important part of pollinating agaves and producing new seeds, particularly because they fly long distances, which can strengthen the genetic variability of the plants. Agaves bloom only once and then die. Blooming takes several years, oftentimes a decade or more, depending on climate and growing conditions. Disruptions to the reproduction of bats and the growth cycles of agaves can imperil both species.

A few years ago, BCI started the Agave Restoration Initiative to bring together land managers, farmers, ranchers, and communities and businesses that economically depend on agaves. We’re sharing our research and getting people involved in various ways, including planting agave corridors and patches. Part of my job is traveling to known roosts and monitoring the status of Mexican long-nosed bats. The other part is traveling thousands of miles each year to meet with people who can make a difference for these bats.

Climate change, the impacts of human development, and unregulated access into caves where bats roost have put both bats and agaves in peril. Our research is building upon records from more than 50 years ago, and many of those records reported thousands of bats. Today, once we’ve verified that we’ve found those historic roosts, we’re most often finding them empty of bats and completely silent. We’re using the clues from those historic roosts to guide our research and conservation efforts.

I feel beyond lucky to work with bats. I’ve witnessed bat mothers ready to give birth, hanging upside down and pushing against gravity. Once the pup emerges, in a split second, you see the mother capture her baby with her wing and pull the baby to the nipple. Then, you see the mother get to work cleaning her baby, detaching the umbilical cord, and placing her pup among hundreds of other newborn bats to keep warm so she can go out and forage for food. I look at that single bat mother, multiply her efforts by thousands of other bat mothers, and realize we all have the strength and what it takes to be successful in bat conservation.