EFFECTIVENESS OF REHABILITATION AT ATTRACTING BATS AT WAZO HILL QUARRY SITE, D

RESEARCH DESCRIPTION

Purposely the study is based on exploiting how rehabilitated sites at Wazo Hill Quarry area have attracted bats. The main reason for undertaking a study on bats is because they have ecological keystone roles in ecosystems, such as seed dispersal, pollination and nocturnal insect suppression . This is particularly so in fragmented and intensively used habitats where seed dispersal by animals plays an important role for the persistence and reforestation of different plant species . A good example here are fruit bats which can function as dispersal agents (Kunz et al., 2011), as they can cover long distances and may pass over suboptimal landscapes. In so doing, the fruit bats might connect fragmented habitats which might be more difficult for other dispersal agents, for example rodents . Bats are also among the bioindicators of ecosystem function. So, their presence indicates the well-being of the ecosystem. The use of the rehabilitated sites by bats will indicate their effectiveness which is a success story for the rehabilitation project at Twiga Cement