Fruit-bats tend to aggregate in their thousands and even millions in roosts spread throughout tropical Africa. In the evening the bats take off to feed on a large variety of fruits before returning to their roosts and through their movement they provide an indispensable service to the fruiting trees and the whole ecosystem by means of seed dispersal. In this work we researched the movements of straw-colored fruit-bats (Eidolon helvum) in Ghana using GPS transmitters. To estimate their flight environment we applied The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and found that the bats’ flight behavior is modified according to predictions of optimal flight model combining the effects of tailwind assistance and crosswind. For further reading: Sapir, N., Horvitz, N., Dechman, D.K.N., Fahr, J. and Wikelski, M. 2014. Commuting fruit bats beneficially modulate their flight in relation to wind. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 281: 20140018; See also http://www.earthtimes.org/nature/bats-flight/2570/.
