Ecological Investigations of White-Nose Syndrome in Bats

Research Task: RB00CN9.6.0
Task Manager: Paul Cryan

White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a devastating affliction that threatens the survival of hibernating bats in North America. WNS and the unique fungus thought to cause the disease have spread in the first 3 years since discovery from a very small area of New York across more than 1,000 miles and numerous states. Over one million hibernating bats are estimated to have died during the first 3 winters since WNS emerged, all 4 federally listed endangered species and subspecies of hibernating cave bats are in harm’s way, and more than half of the 45 species of bats occurring in the United States are potentially susceptible. This task aims to better understand the causes and dynamics of WNS, so that we are in a better position to cope with this growing wildlife crisis. FORT biologists are continuing to help coordinate general research efforts, provide technical support on aspects of bat ecology to the scientific community, and are developing tools and field studies aimed at better understanding the disease. We are developing monitoring tools to study behaviors of affected bats during winter in caves where they hibernate, investigating physiological consequences of fungal infection in bats, developing a web-based tracking system to assist with the response and investigation, modeling the potential for the disease to spread, and moving toward development of field techniques for conducting WNS epidemiological studies in wild populations of bats.

 For more information contact Paul Cryan

Related Products

Publications

• Ecology of zoonotic infectious diseases in bats: Current knowledge and future directions
• Inoculation of bats with European Geomyces destructans supports the novel pathogen hypothesis for the origin of white-nose syndrome
• Electrolyte depletion in white-nose syndrome bats
• Lights, camera, action: behaviors of hibernating bats before and after WNS revealed by surveillance video
• Environmental conditions associated with bat White-Nose Syndrome mortality in the north-eastern United States
• Development of a North American Bat Population Monitoring and Modeling Program
• Surveillance for White-Nose Syndrome in the bat community at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico, 2011
• Bat White-Nose Syndrome in North America
• Economic importance of bats in agriculture
• Response to: Concerns about extrapolating right off the bat [Letter]
• Update on video surveillance, electrolyte imbalance, and development of an online interactive database for tracking WNS
• Investigating and managing the rapid emergence of White-Nose Syndrome, a novel, fatal, infectious disease of hibernating bats
• Experimental infection of bats with Geomyces destructans causes white-nose syndrome
• White-nose Syndrome in North America
• White-nose syndrome in bats: A primer for resource managers
• Update on WNS Research and Response Activities at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center
• Bat ecology as it relates to white-nose syndrome
• Current white-nose syndrome (WNS) research
• Wing pathology of white-nose syndrome in bats suggests life-threatening disruption of physiology
• A Map of the Big Brown Bat Wing: "Typical" Damage and Scarring in an Urban Maternity Population Prior to White-Nose Syndrome
• White-Nose Syndrome Fungus (Geomyces destructans) in bats, Europe