M.Sc. / Members of the Suborder Microchiroptera consume large numbers of insects. When large enough numbers of these bats are present in agricultural areas, the need for insecticides can be reduced significantly. The ZZ2 Tomato Farms in Mooketsi and the Secrabje Farm in Waterpoort, in the Limpopo Province were chosen as study sites. Although ZZ2 focuses on the production of tomatoes, both farms produce a variety of vegetables and fruit. These farms were chosen because the management of both have shown a commitment to conservation and attempt to minimise their impact on the environment. Bat species indigenous to the study areas were captured by means of mist nets for identification purposes. Basic morphological data of captured specimens were collected and recorded. Their roosting behaviour and preferences were studied by visiting diurnal roosts in the two study sites. Microclimatic measurements were taken in roosts occupied by Chaerephon pumilus, Mops condylurus and Taedarida aegyptiaca. Microclimatic measurements were also done in bat houses designed for the housing of bats in agricultural areas. Results suggest that other factors, additional to temperature and relative humidity, contribute to the success and probability of bat house occupancy by bats. Existing roosts in man-made structures such as roofs, can successfully be enhanced to stimulate increase in colony size. Bat activities were determined in agricultural areas and adjacent natural habitats by means of recordings of the echolocation calls of the different bat Families. These were compared to the occurrence of nocturnal flying insect orders that were captured in light traps at the same localities. Of the bat species studied, a positive correlation between increased bat activity and higher number of insects, including pest species, was found. It seems as if the Molossidae has the greatest potential to be utilised in the control of insect pests of agricultural areas in the Limpopo of the bat species studied. A holistic approach favouring insectivorous bats on farms is recommended. This can be done i.a. through the conservation of abundant areas of natural vegetation adjacent to the agricultural areas which would provide foraging for bats during winter, periods of drought or when the lands lie fallow. The excessive and injudicious use of insecticides, which has a negative effect on bats, counteracts the beneficial and cheap alternative of natural insect pest control provided by insectivorous bats.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:6862 |
| Date | 03 June 2010 |
| Creators | Marais, Werner Christiaan |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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