Bats pollinate and disperse the seeds of hundreds of plant species. According to a Thai study, pest bio-control given by just one species of bat averted the loss of 2900 tons of rice every year (or) a $1.2 million savings, or 26,200 meals per year. Bat droppings (guano) are widely employed as a fertilizer for agricultural crops as they include high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. Bats are the second most diverse and abundant order of mammals with great physiological and ecological diversity. They play important ecological roles as prey and predator, arthropod suppression, seed dispersal, pollination, material and nutrient distribution, and recycle. They have great advantages and disadvantages in economic terms. The economic benefits obtained from bats include biological pest control, plant pollination, seed dispersal, guano mining, bat meat and medicine, aesthetic and bat watching tourism, and education and research. Even though bats are among gentle animals providing many positive ecological and economic benefits, few species have negative effects. They cause damage on human, livestock, agricultural crops, building, and infrastructure. They also cause airplane strikes, disease transmission and contamination, and bite humans during self-defense. Bat populations appear to be declining presumably in response to human induced environmental stresses like habitat destruction and fragmentation, disturbance to caves, depletion of food resources, overhunting for bat meat and persecution, increased use of pesticides, infectious disease and wind energy turbine. As bats are among the most overlooked species in spite of their economical and ecological importance, their conservation is mandatory.

Bats pollinate and disperse the seeds of hundreds of plant species.