Radio National Breakfast Flying foxes bring 'hundreds of millions' to Australian economy
Mar 29, 2026
Dr Alexander Braczkowski, conservation biologist who studies bat-driven pollination and seed dispersal. He explains the 'bat ripple' and how flying foxes create millions of trees by moving large seeds. He outlines the first continental-scale study of their impact and discusses threats like habitat loss and heatwave die-offs.
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Bat Ripple Effect Drives Wide Ecosystem Influence
- Flying foxes create a large ecosystem 'bat ripple' by influencing areas around 1,200 CSIRO-mapped roosts across Australia.
- They fly 30–50 km nightly, pollinate large flowers with chest contact, and disperse big seeds more effectively than most birds.
Flying Foxes Are Mega Dispersers For Trees
- Grey-headed flying foxes drive tree regeneration via pollination and seed dispersal across many species, including eucalypts.
- They handle large seeds and transfer pollen by chest contact, making them 'mega dispersers' for forest recovery.
First Continental Study Quantifies Bat Impact
- This study is the first continental-scale assessment of grey-headed flying fox impacts across Australia using mapped roosts and flight-distance spatial data.
- Researchers combined CSIRO roost maps, recent activity checks, and satellite-tracked flight distances to model impacts.