FIRST frogs, then bees, now bats. Across the north-eastern US, bats are dying, struck down by a mysterious disease called white nose syndrome (WNS). A million bats have died in four years and nobody really knows why.
A fungus called Geomyces destructans is clearly involved; it is often found as white powder covering the noses, muzzles and wings of infected bats, hence the disease鈥檚 name. But its exact role is unclear. It may be the direct cause of the disease, or just an opportunistic infection hitching on the back of a more deadly foe (see 鈥淢urder at the bat cave鈥�).
What we do know, with horrible certainty, is that when the fungus arrives in a cave or abandoned mine where bats hibernate it can kill 80 to 100 per cent of the inhabitants. Of the 20 or so cave-roosting species in North America that are at risk, six have so far been affected. If WNS continues to move south and west, at least three endangered species 鈥� the gray bat, Virginia big-eared bat and Ozark big-eared bat 鈥� are in peril.
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鈥淚f white nose disease spreads south and west, at least three endangered species of bat are in peril鈥�
The speed of its spread is alarming. Since our article went to press, WNS has spread to its 11th state, Maryland. And just last week, WNS in Ontario.
Inevitable comparisons have been made with the amphibian crisis, which in 10 years has left a third of all amphibian species at risk of extinction. It also has echoes of colony collapse disorder in honeybees.
Are such comparisons relevant or useful? Both the amphibian and honeybee crises have been tentatively linked to human activity, but there is no evidence as yet that blame for WNS can be laid at our door. For example, despite suggestions that cavers spread the fungus, cave closures have not prevented outbreaks.
What is clear is that human intervention is needed to halt the disease. Bats are incredibly useful to agriculture, with some species eating their own body weight in insects every night, saving farmers billions of dollars in pesticides. They also pollinate night-flowering plants, disperse seeds and sustain delicate cave ecosystems with their droppings.
But with so little information about the disease, combating it is proving difficult. 快猫短视频s are trying to fill the gaps, but money may be a stumbling block. A plea to the US Congress last summer raised $1.9 million for research, but with the 2010 domestic spending freeze and states suffering budget squeezes, further funds may not be forthcoming. Last week, a consortium of researchers and caving and conservation agencies to the US Department of the Interior for $5 million.
Let鈥檚 hope that politicians understand what is at stake. Bats may not tug on the heartstrings like honeybees, but losing them could be just as devastating.