Scientists Tracking 99-100% Mortality Rates In Eastern Bat Species From White Nose Fungus - WP

[hatrack]

The killing season has begun. Hordes of bats recently flew into abandoned mines and caves across the region for their annual winter hibernation - and more than likely, wildlife biologists said, tens of thousands won't fly back out.

A flesh-eating fungus has stalked and killed them for at least four years. More than one million bats from at least seven species are estimated to have died from a disease called white nose syndrome for the way it covers their snouts like baby powder. This year, as white nose sweeps west from Northeast states such as Virginia and Pennsylvania to Oklahoma, scientists are bracing for the worst.

"The worry is great, tremendous," said Greg Turner, an specialist in endangered mammals who works for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Although white nose syndrome has been spotted in numerous Virginia caves, it hasn't yet had a profound impact on the beloved Virginia big-eared bat.

But the most common resident of this region, the little brown bat, is barely hanging on. And two other species - the tri-colored bat and the northern long-eared bat - are expected to become extinct. "I'm seeing 100 percent mortality of those two species," Turner said. "We will have a 99 percent reduction of the little brown bat." Last winter, two-thirds of Pennsylvania's more than 2,000 caves and 4,000 abandoned mines were affected by white nose syndrome, Turner said. This winter, game officials expect that "all the sites we know of will have white nose," Turner said.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122105861.html

[InvisibleTouch]

1. This is horrific.

I've always had a love for bats, and they're so important to the ecosystem. New fungal diseases rarely evolve just out of nowhere. Makes me wonder about mutagens in the environment, not to mention toxins that could be destroying the bats' immune systems and making them susceptible. The only silver lining is that those few individuals who do survive should be immune, and will pass that immunity on to their offspring - provided they stay safe from human interference. For such small mammals, bats have a very low reproductive rate and a long life span, so protecting their roosts and hibernacula will be more critical than ever.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

2. This article points out just how serious this is in PA.

Excerpt:

In three years since the onset of the outbreak, more than a million bats have died in the Northeast. They would have eaten 694 tons of insects, and scientists are worried about the impact of the sudden break in the food chain. In a report released at the conclusion of last year's conference in Austin, scientists described White-nose Syndrome as "devastating," responsible for "the most precipitous decline of North American wildlife in recorded history."

"The truth is bats are dying off so fast we might not be able to save them," said Dr. Reeder, who participated in last year's conference. "The little brown bat, the most common bat in North America, could be extinct and other species endangered in seven to 30 years.

"Our work here may save them farther west, but we are not going to be able to save the bats in Pennsylvania. What that means to us we don't know, but it can't be good."





Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10066/1040953-84.stm#ixzz197brJUv8