Study launched to investigate a disease that is killing North American bats

Researchers hope to predict the behavior of a disease that is advancing westward at an alarming rate after devastating bat populations throughout eastern and central North America.

Brett Dickson, CSP’s president and chief scientist, is among a diverse group of researchers who are investigating white-nose syndrome (WNS). Caused by a fungal pathogen (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) that emerged in 2006, WNS has already resulted in widespread mortality and threatened to extirpate several bat species across the eastern and central portions of North America. Named for the white fungus on the muzzles and wings of affected bats, the disease alters the physiology and bioenergetics of hibernation, leading to increased arousal and depletion of fat stores. As the fungus progresses west, it will infect new populations and species, increasing pathogen exposure pathways and disrupting the important contributions of bats to ecosystems.

Western land managers will have a critical role in addressing the conservation needs of susceptible bat species. As such, the ultimate goal of this project is to help them prepare an effective response to WNS. The team will focus on identifying susceptible species using information on bat bioenergetics, pathogen characteristics, and environmental conditions.

The project is being led by colleagues from the Wildlife Conservation Society, with funding from the Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program.

CSP’s role will entail designing and implementing two types of models. The first, an ecological niche model, will be developed using data collected for eastern/central North America bats and then applied to five western species representing different hibernating behaviors and geographic settings. This will help predict the impact of WNS in areas where bat diversity is highest. The ecological niche model will then be combined with species distribution and survival models to help forecast the likelihood of exposure and mortality for extant, otherwise unaffected populations of target species on DOD and adjacent lands.

This work will contribute to a growing body of research on WNS.

Map showing the distribution and possible progression of white-nose syndrome