it depends on who is asking the question......
....if it is mother nature it is undoubtedly the number one.............any bat currently alive could just happen to have the dna and the reproductive opportunity to survive wns.....that is one of those points you cannont argue against if you have even a high school level of science knowledge......
.....course.......you would have had to be able to comprehend what you were exposed to in that course......
...kinda doubtful situation for me i guess......
......anyway,
a caver would want a number of bats........or batnumbs that would keep most caves open.......especially their personal favorites....
the batologists....
....or current wns spreaders and stressors
would want to study the hibernating bats more intensely and from now onto extinction to justify all the other things and, if pressed, they would say that some arbitrary hundreds figure would be the "acceptable number"....although some of the more conservative among them might feel that several dozen would be enough.......their numbers vary because they are not mother nature............and, always be aware that many of them don't realize that they don't know things better than nature does........
...
farmers are calculating the ways to offset increased chemical costs....
....
swallows are stretching their throats and learning to build heavier nests to accomadate fatter mama birds......
dow jones is researching patents for something that dissolves nitrogen and not glass............
and cave politicians are trying to appeal to all three wns caver attitude groups and deal with the scientists.......