NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

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NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

Postby DeanWiseman » Dec 20, 2011 1:18 pm

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DECEMBER 20, 2011, 11:44 A.M. ET

Bat scientists see ray of hope in white nose fight

Associated Press

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Scientists studying the mysterious ailment that has killed millions of bats in an epidemic that is spreading its way across North America say they are finding small groups of surviving, healthy bats.

The scientists don't know why and it's too soon to say if the surviving colonies found in Vermont, Pennsylvania and elsewhere could eventually repopulate the region, but scientists are planning to study the survivors in hopes of answering that question.

The scientists are planning to meet next month in Pennsylvania to seek the best ways to learn from the survivors.

Scott Darling of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife say biologists have found 15 colonies in the western part of the state where bats are surviving and appear to healthy.

—Copyright 2011 Associated Press
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Re: NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

Postby PYoungbaer » Dec 20, 2011 3:01 pm

That's news here in Vermont - and I'm not sure what it's based on. Vermont Fish and Wildlife has not done any surveys yet this year. Scott Darling was not at the Vermont Cavers Association meeting on Sunday, but another VCA member and VFW employee was, but didn't relay any new developments. I'm aware of summer survey work that was done, so perhaps it's based on that. I'll try to find out.

Next month's meeting in Pennsylvania is the Northeast Bat Working Group.
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Re: NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

Postby PYoungbaer » Dec 20, 2011 5:09 pm

Here's a link to a more complete version from the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2011%2F12%2F20%2Fnational%2Fa122149S68.DTL

I did contact Scott Darling, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, and these are actual field observations. He noted that the number of colonies is well below the previously known colonies, and the population numbers within the colonies are much small since WNS hit.
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Re: NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

Postby wyandottecaver » Dec 21, 2011 7:07 pm

It was interesting that they used "appeared healthy". If, as implied, these colonies had lost individuals to WNS and none of the current members were examined in a lab, then we don't know if these had truly survived WNS exposure or just hadn't been exposed yet. It does seem logical that as the population density drops the rate of transmission will too since all the "environmental" transmission data says that route is iffy at best.

It might be that if environmental transmission really is a non-issue, then WNS might die out just as the plague mostly did in Europe from a lack of available hosts. Would be interesting to see what the social makeup of these colonies are...anti-social loners scattered in the cave or a few huddled survivors?

The fort drum studies really didn't show much IMHO. it showed that bats could get pregnant and give birth in WNS colonies. It didn't show that ANY individual bats actually survived WNS for 2 full seasons...though that was partly a limitation of the study duration.
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Re: NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

Postby DeanWiseman » Dec 21, 2011 10:08 pm

wyandottecaver wrote:It might be that if environmental transmission really is a non-issue, then WNS might die out just as the plague mostly did in Europe from a lack of available hosts. Would be interesting to see what the social makeup of these colonies are...anti-social loners scattered in the cave or a few huddled survivors?


I think you're missing an important point, though, as the fungus can live just fine without bats. According to what's known, once a cave environment is contaminated with the fungus, whether bats are there or not, it will remain.
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Re: NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

Postby BrianC » Dec 22, 2011 8:54 am

DeanWiseman wrote:
wyandottecaver wrote:It might be that if environmental transmission really is a non-issue, then WNS might die out just as the plague mostly did in Europe from a lack of available hosts. Would be interesting to see what the social makeup of these colonies are...anti-social loners scattered in the cave or a few huddled survivors?


I think you're missing an important point, though, as the fungus can live just fine without bats. According to what's known, once a cave environment is contaminated with the fungus, whether bats are there or not, it will remain.

Wait a minute! While the fungus does extend its season for some time, we don't know how much time. Fungal spores are varied as the stars in the sky, and some will evolve, some will mature, some will totally disseminate without the nourishment required for sustainability. Again, we just don't know this yet. Premature speculation is what got us into this mess in the first place. Just relax and be satisfied that some bats are in areas that have been known to be hit hard, and are replicating. Let Mother Nature conduct her business on her own.
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Re: NEW article about WNS in the Wall Street Journal

Postby PYoungbaer » Dec 22, 2011 9:43 am

Dean,

Brian is correct in that it is unknown for what length of time Geomyces destructans remains viable in cave sediments absent bats. See the abstract by Joe Okoniewski from the Pittsburgh WNS Symposium a year and a half ago where he states he found no evidence of the fungus absent dead or dying bats, with the exception of in drill holes. David Blehert's published study cited a small number of positive sediment samples from WNS-affected caves. These samples were taken according to collection protocols directly next to or beneath hibernating bats. The Vermont mine experiments introducing healthy bats to previously-infected sites did show bats got the disease absent other bats several months after those bats were gone, but we don't know if there were any bat remains, however small, that could have hosted the fungus. USGS (Blehert et al) have been collecting additional samples to help define to what extent the fungus survives beyond bat presence. If the lab difficulties of culturing G.d. without getting overwhelmed by other Geomyces spp. are any indication, it seems the likelihood of extended viable G.d. absent bats would be very low. As Hazel Barton has pointed out, caves are an energy-poor environment, with existing species competing heavily for their survival niche. An invasive, such as G.d., would likely have a difficult time absent a host.
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