Bat poo

[LadyMud]

Just heard an interesting snippet on Radio 4 . . .

Apparently in Tennessee, bat poo gives historical information about wildfires in the area.

The bats get covered in soot which, after grooming, ends up in their poo. The poo (or feces/guano, if you want to google it) builds up in layers on the cave floor, which can then be analysed for their charcoal content.

 

[Andy Farrant]

Might work in temperate areas, but in tropical caves, everything gets eaten and churned up, so all that remains are just insect wing carapaces (chitin), and even they get broken down.

 

[Tritim230]

In Slaughter Stram Cave there are large deposits of ancient bat guano. I've often wondered if samples could determine age they were deposited and/or insect life at the time. If possible it would be a worthy project for a cave biologist.

 

[Dave-A]

Research paper is here, if anyone wants more info

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2024GL112045

 

[Huge]

In Slaughter Stram Cave there are large deposits of ancient bat guano. I've often wondered if samples could determine age they were deposited and/or insect life at the time. If possible it would be a worthy project for a cave biologist.

This work was done in Draenen so no reason it would not be possible for Slaughter/Wet Sink, I'd have thought.

Iron age to medieval entomogamous vegetation and Rhinolophus hipposideros roost in South-Eastern Wales (UK).Suzanne A.G. Leroy, Michael J. Simms

 

[mikem]

There aren't many places in the UK where there are significant guano deposits

 

[wormster]

Might work in temperate areas, but in tropical caves, everything gets eaten and churned up, so all that remains are just insect wing carapaces (chitin), and even they get broken down.

My brother and his mates got a low dose of rabies from the guano and bat pi$$ in the atmosphere when "Caving in the Clouds" with the SWCC in Peru with Neil Armstrong along for shits and giggles