{
  "id": 17098436,
  "title": "Shrinking bat populations can weaken ecosystem benefits even while species remain widespread",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/shrinking-bat-populations-can-weaken-ecosystem-benefits-even-while",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-29T17:20:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-populations-weaken-ecosystem-benefits-species.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Bats promote the health of ecosystems in many ways. Insect-eating species help regulate insect populations, including agricultural and forest pests. In tropical and subtropical regions, nectar-feeding and fruit-eating bats pollinate plants and disperse seeds, supporting plant reproduction and forest regeneration.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}