{"id":9838,"date":"2025-09-30T02:16:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/?p=9838"},"modified":"2025-11-05T06:02:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T06:02:42","slug":"pollinators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/pollinators\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerhouse Pollinators"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sff2-banner.jpg” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]POWERHOUSE POLLINATORS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”67″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789112768{padding-right: 36px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”15″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]THE BATS AND THE BEES[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”60″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-nb”][vc_column_text el_class=”sub-head” css=”.vc_custom_1759112325927{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]13 OCTOBER 2025[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1762322557758{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]When people think of pollinators, bees usually come to mind, but bees have a nocturnal counterpart that is just as important.<\/p>\n

Spectacled Flying-foxes, a fruit bat native to the Wet Tropics, are like the bees of the rainforest. They help to keep our World Heritage rainforests resilient and diverse.<\/p>\n

Pollination Powerhouses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bees are great for pollinating flowers and small cropping areas but flying foxes do the long-distance work in forests. Like bees, flying foxes move pollen from one tree to another while feeding. As they lap up nectar from blossoms, grains of pollen stick to their fur and are carried to the next tree that they visit. Some native forest trees rely heavily on flying-foxes for this ecosystem service, especially those that flower at night when insect pollinators are less active such as hardwood eucalypts.<\/p>\n

Super-sized Seed Couriers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spectacled Flying-foxes provide an additional service beyond pollination. While bees mainly help flowers to reproduce locally, flying-foxes also act as long-distance seed couriers. By eating rainforest fruits and travelling up to 100kms in a night, they spread seeds far from the parent tree, helping new forests grow and connecting isolated patches of rainforest.<\/p>\n

Climate Resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bees are critical for crop pollination, supporting our food security. Flying-foxes do something just as important for rainforests \u2014 they help ecosystems to adapt to climate change. By moving seeds and pollen across large areas, they boost genetic diversity and resilience, giving forests a better chance of surviving as the climate changes.<\/p>\n

Social Gardeners
\n<\/strong>
\nBoth bees and flying foxes are social creatures. Bees work together in hives, while flying foxes live in noisy roosts, sharing knowledge about feeding sites and roosting locations. This social behaviour ensures that whole colonies contribute to rainforest regeneration, just like whole bee colonies support flowering plants.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789122720{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 34px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_right”][mk_padding_divider size=”206″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1759112972772{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\"spectacled[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1759112526385{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Guardians of the Forest<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bees and flying foxes are essential to the survival of ecosystems but both face threats to their survival. Bees face threats from pesticides and habitat loss, while Spectacled Flying-foxes are endangered due to habitat destruction, urban conflict and extreme heat events. Losing Spectacled Flying-foxes would mean more than the loss of one species \u2014 it would put the entire rainforest ecosystem at risk.<\/p>\n

If you find a sick, injured, or dead bat, avoid touching it\u2014call FNQ Wildlife Rescue on (07) 4053 4467.<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1757915751901{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Thanks for giving a flying-fox…a chance!<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1761263274436{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]This project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by Terrain NRM, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section el_class=”grean-btn-sec” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”47″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_button dimension=”outline” url=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/spectacled-flying-foxes-faqs\/” align=”right” el_class=”green-btn” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#175137″ outline_active_text_color=”#ffffff” outline_hover_bg_color=”#175137″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff”]Read More[\/mk_button][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1-blog” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”105″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” align=”right” el_class=”terrain-title”]RELATED NEWS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” id=”post_grid_filter_1″][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”grid_greate_3″ css=”.vc_custom_1743711316392{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

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