another update via a bat conference recently completed at posted by john chenger
Below is a more complete summary of last week's Northeast Bat Working Group meeting held jointly with the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network annual meeting in VA. Two major meetings were held regarding WNS during that event.
White Nose Syndrome update
>From a presentation by Al Hicks et al
Joint SBDN/NEBWG meeting Feb., 2008
Prepared by Leslie Sturges 2/21/08
Bats with crusting white fungus were found in NY hibernacula in
winter 2006/2007. Mortality was high and aroused suspicion. By
winter 2007/2008 the condition and associated mortality had spread
to almost all known major NY hibernacula and to sites in VT and MA.
New sites are still being confirmed.
All cave-dependent species with the exception of Myotis lebeii and
Eptesicus fuscus have been found to be infected in affected caves.
However, M. lebeii roost in separate areas within the hibernacula
and work is underway to determine if they are also infected, though
the assumption is that they are. Affected caves include major
hibernacula of endangered Myotis sodalis (Indiana bats) and a large
portion of the population of nationally rare and state-listed M.
lebeii (Eastern small-footed bats).
Current mortality for hibernacula populations of affected species is
90-97% and behavioral markers suggest that remaining bats will be
dead by spring emergence. Not all dead bats exhibit the fungus;
however, the fungus has been found by researchers in the dermis and
sebaceous glands of asymptomatic bats from affected sites.
There are profound behavioral changes in bats at affected sites:
Clusters of bats are roosting in the light zone near entrances Dead
bats or remains are found outside cave entrances in the snow Nearby
residents are reporting bats flying during the day in 15-20°F
weather and bats roosting on exterior walls of residences. Flying
bats are falling to the ground dead or crash landing. Several have
been found roosting in woodpiles. Bats still inside caves are
abnormally slow to arouse and do not show appropriate cluster
warming under thermal imaging.
Bats necropsied are totally depleted of fat stores. (the latter 2
findings are from work completed just days ago) A live bat was
recovered last year, housed and fed, and subsequently released in
the spring, suggesting that the bats MAY be emerging because they
are starving OR that with adequate fat stores some bats can fight
off the pathogen.
To date there are some speculations as to the causative mechanism,
but NO particular pathogen has been identified
1) The pathogen may interfere with normal thermoregulatory ability
2) Bats are entering caves in fall with abnormally low fat
reserves and are subsequently unable to mount an immune response
3) The pathogen is parasitic, in particular, it may be
lipophilic and is feeding on the bats' stored fat
Some preliminary work on immune response has been done by Boston
University Looked at relative immune function Crude findings suggest
the WNS bats have significantly lower immune response compared to
the immune response of healthy E. fuscus, but
baseline data are lacking for healthy hibernating bats of the
species affected. To date there is no field diagnostic to identify
infected bats that do not have visible fungus.
There is no indication that rising temperatures are to blame,
despite some widely publicized quotes. Caves in Ohio track almost
identically
with affected caves in NY, and there are no infected bats or unusual
die offs there.
There are currently 9 universities, 4 or 5 federal agencies, state
wildlife agencies and health departments from 3 states, and a host
of other volunteers, researchers, and cavers working together to
combat the spread of this condition and to diagnose the cause.
US Fish and Wildlife Service is formulating guidelines for the
research and caving community to ensure appropriate disinfection of
equipment and research procedures to stop the spread of this
condition, until it is determined that it is not spread by human
activity.
USFWS does NOT have jurisdiction over any hibernacula that do not
contain endangered species. It is individual state's responsibility to
close caves and other hibernacula in order to protect bats. All
state wildlife agencies have been asked to be mindful of the
condition and to take appropriate action. There is no reason to
think that any wildlife agency would not be on high alert for WNS.
Significant funding has already been secured through public and
private entities. Offers of funding and assistance continue to come
in to
FWS and NY state personnel. The Indiana Bat Research Center is
overseeing funds and distribution.
FWS is acting as the central source for WNS information for the
public. Please refer public inquiries to
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/ <http://www.fws.gov/midwest/>Endangered/mammals/inba/Batailment.html.
Information for cavers can be found at
http://www.necaveconservancy.org/default.php.
Researchers are being kept apprised through work group mailing lists
and committee conference calls. One last tantalizing tidbit: A
picture taken in a cave in the Netherlands was sent to the point
person at NY DEC. The picture appears to show
fungus on bats in a pattern identical to the WNS condition. However,
there, the condition does not result in dead bats.
I'm not scared of the dark, it's the things IN the dark that make me nervous. :)