The Battle for Bats: White Nose Syndrome <--- Video link
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Batman Be Aware of White Nose Syndrome!
Geomyces destructans is a fungus that has been associated with the epidemic among bats known as the white nose syndrome. Bats infected with this fungus, die of the combination of starvation and dehydration. Little is known about why this fungus affects bats in this way. So far approximately 8,000 to 11,000 bats have died. Sixteen US states and four Canadian provinces that bats inhabit have been affected. So far there has been 100 percent mortality rate among bats that are infected. From researching other websites about Geomyces destructans, it is safe to say that this is a fairly new fungus which is apart of the Ascomycota family. Fungal DNA analysis of the ITS and SSU regions confirmed this.
The Battle for Bats: White Nose Syndrome <--- Video link
The Battle for Bats: White Nose Syndrome <--- Video link
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Wow it's really interesting that they die of starvation and dehydration. Does that mean they just stop following their instincts of eating and drinking once they get infected?
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I am curious to see how serious this will become. If it is only in the regions described above, I hope it does not spread to any other populations of bats. This has the potential to be devastating for bat populations.
ReplyDeleteWell from what I have read the fungus somehow depletes the bats fat reserves for hibernation. It also in some cases wakes them up days or weeks earlier than they should. I know there is still a lot of research to be made on this fungus.
ReplyDeleteThat is very unfortunate for these bats. I couldn't imagine it would be enjoyable to have something like that growing on my nose. I wonder if the fungus interfers with the bats' ability to use ecolocation.
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