• About
  • Special Reports
  • Topics
    • Climate
    • Earth Science
    • Oceans
    • Space & Planets
    • Health & Ecosystems
    • Culture & Policy
    • Education & Careers
    • Opinions
  • Projects
    • Postcards From the Field
    • ENGAGE
    • Editors’ Highlights
    • Editors’ Vox
    • Eos en Español
    • Eos 简体中文版
    • Print Archive: 2015–2025
  • Policy Tracker
  • Blogs
    • Research & Developments
    • The Landslide Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Submit to Eos
  • AGU.org
  • Career Center
  • Join AGU
  • Give to AGU
  • About
  • Special Reports
  • Topics
    • Climate
    • Earth Science
    • Oceans
    • Space & Planets
    • Health & Ecosystems
    • Culture & Policy
    • Education & Careers
    • Opinions
  • Projects
    • Postcards From the Field
    • ENGAGE
    • Editors’ Highlights
    • Editors’ Vox
    • Eos en Español
    • Eos 简体中文版
    • Print Archive: 2015–2025
  • Policy Tracker
  • Blogs
    • Research & Developments
    • The Landslide Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Submit to Eos
Skip to content
  • AGU.org
  • Career Center
  • Join AGU
  • Give to AGU
Eos

Eos

Science News by AGU

Support Eos
Sign Up for Newsletter
  • About
  • Special Reports
  • Topics
    • Climate
    • Earth Science
    • Oceans
    • Space & Planets
    • Health & Ecosystems
    • Culture & Policy
    • Education & Careers
    • Opinions
  • Projects
    • Postcards From the Field
    • ENGAGE
    • Editors’ Highlights
    • Editors’ Vox
    • Eos en Español
    • Eos 简体中文版
    • Print Archive: 2015–2025
  • Policy Tracker
  • Blogs
    • Research & Developments
    • The Landslide Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Submit to Eos

bats

Seen from below, a group of bats hang from a rocky cave ceiling. One has its mouth wide open in a yawn.
Posted inResearch Spotlights

Bat Poop Records Fire History

by Rebecca Dzombak 31 October 20244 November 2024

Charcoal stored in preserved guano gives researchers a new way to reconstruct regional fire histories.

Cave entrance with vegetation in background
Posted inNews

Bat Guano Traces Changes in Agriculture and Hurricane Activity

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 13 October 202010 March 2023

Researchers hiked and rappeled into two caves in Jamaica to collect over 40 kilograms of excrement.

Scientist with guano core.
Posted inNews

Bat Guano: A Possible New Source for Paleoclimate Reconstructions

JoAnna Wendel, freelance science writer and illustrator by JoAnna Wendel 14 December 20164 October 2021

Nitrogen isotopes within samples of bat excrement accurately reflect modern precipitation patterns. So could guano serve as a paleoclimate record?

Posted inNews

How Bat Breath and Guano Can Change the Shapes of Caves

JoAnna Wendel, freelance science writer and illustrator by JoAnna Wendel 9 November 201513 October 2022

Researchers working in caves in Borneo and elsewhere are finding evidence that biological processes shape many tropical caves by slowly eating away at surrounding rock.

Over a dark blue-green square appear the words Special Report: The State of the Science 1 Year On.

Features from AGU Publications

Research Spotlights

Making a Map to Make a Difference

11 February 202611 February 2026
Editors' Highlights

Models Reveal Imprint of Tectonics and Climate on Alluvial Terraces

17 February 202617 February 2026
Editors' Vox

A Double-Edged Sword: The Global Oxychlorine Cycle on Mars

10 February 202610 February 2026
Eos logo at left; AGU logo at right

About Eos
ENGAGE
Awards
Contact

Advertise
Submit
Career Center
Sitemap

© 2026 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved Powered by Newspack