James Cook University scientists in race to save endangered flying foxes

James Cook University scientists are in a race to protect spectacled flying foxes before they are endangered by the next bout of extreme heat.

James Cook University scientists are helping endangered spectacled flying foxes to survive heatwaves, after about one third of the population in Queensland’s wet tropics died in extreme heat in 2018.

After one-third of Australia’s population of spectacled flying foxes died during heatwaves in 2018, scientists at James Cook University are urgently seeking solutions to prevent it happening again when the next bout of extreme hot weather arrives.

Susan Lawrence, the JCU scientist who co-leads the project, said that spectacled flying foxes, which live in Queensland’s wet tropics, are vulnerable to mass mortality in extreme heat.

An extreme heatwave in 2018 resulted in the death of over 20,000, approximately one-third of the population, leading to them becoming listed as endangered,” said Professor Laurance.

Her project, funded by Australia’s National Environmental Science Program, will last until 2027. It plans to identify the locations where spectacled flying foxes are most at risk and to improve the forecasting of extreme heat events which pose a high risk to the species.

“We will also develop a plan of action for when the next one hits,” said Professor Laurance.

She said that possible responses to the next heat wave might include using water misting systems, moving the flying foxes roosts, and revegetating areas to improve their chance of survival.

Extreme heatwaves are still rare in the Australia’s wet tropics region, but in recent decades they have occurred more frequently and with greater intensity.

Andrew Krockenberger, a JCU animal physiologist who co-leads the project, said that in the 2018 heatwave there was a lot of variation in where the spectacled flying foxes died.

“We hope to address this with fine-scale research on how weather interacts with roosts at the local scale, and how interventions can be better focused on key locations,” he said.