VOLUNTEER NATURALIST CONDUCTS GROUNDBREAKING BAT RESEARCH BY SUSANA RINDERLE
Often misunderstood or feared, bats are actually invaluable members of the global animal kingdom. While in some places, they pollinate many nightblooming plants and cacti, at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP), they mostly provide natural insect control, eliminating the need for harmful pesticides. Stable bat populations are also important indicators of an ecosystem’s overall health, and leading indicators of negative environmental trends. On January 18, 2020, a humancaused fire at Borrego Palm Canyon's First Grove burned a majority of the mature California fan palms known to provide roost habitat for bats, NOMADIC | 24 particularly western yellow bats.
