Impact
The fungus Geomyces destructans can only grow in low temperatures, in the 4 to 15 °C range (39–59°F). The fungus will not tolerate temperatures above 20 °C (68 °F) and appears to be adapted to attacking hibernating bats. Infection causes bats to rouse too frequently from torpor (temporary hibernation) and starve to death through excessive activity. The symptoms associated with WNS include loss of body fat, unusual winter behavior (including flying), damage and scarring of the wing membranes, and death.
The disease was first reported in January 2007 in some New York caves. It spread to other New York caves and into Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in 2008. In early 2009 it was confirmed in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and, in March 2010, Ontario, Canada, and Middle Tennessee. In 2012, new cases showed up in northeastern Ohio, and Acadia National Park in Maine. New confirmed cases appeared in 2013 in Georgia, South Carolina, and Illinois.
Alan Hicks with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has described the impact as "unprecedented" and "the gravest threat to bats...ever seen." The mortality rate in some caves has exceeded 90%. A once-common species, the little brown bat has suffered a major population collapse and may be at risk of rapid extinction in the northeastern U.S. within 20 years due to WNS. There are currently nine hibernating bat species confirmed with infection of Geomyces destructans, and at least five of those species have suffered major mortality. Some of those species are already listed as endangered on the U.S. endangered species list, including the Indiana bat, whose primary hibernaculum in New York has been affected. The long-term impact of the reduction in bat populations may be an increase in insects, possibly even leading to crop damage or other economic impact in New England.
Bat colonies have been decimated throughout the northeastern U.S., and the syndrome has spread into mid-atlantic states and northward into Canada. The Forest Service estimates that the die-off from white-nose syndrome means that at least 2.4 million pounds of bugs (1.1 million kg) will go uneaten and become a financial burden to farmers. The disease may also threaten an already-endangered species, such as the big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus), the official state bat of Virginia. Some bat species are adapting to slow the spread of the disease by roosting alone more frequently.
Comparisons have been raised to colony collapse disorder, another poorly-understood phenomenon resulting in the abrupt disappearance of Western honey bee colonies, and with chytridiomycosis, a fungal skin disease linked with worldwide declines in amphibian populations.
Read more about this topic: White Nose Syndrome
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