Bats provide critical ecological services to humans. They are critical in food plant pollinators and in controlling bugs that threaten agriculture and forestry. A single bat can eat thousands of insects in a single night. Their pest-control value to the US economy is estimated in the billions of dollars. Unfortunately, they are dying in massive numbers. White Nose Syndrome (WNS) has killed about 7 million North American bats with no end in site. This trend will probably worsen, since the recent UA discovery indicates that the deadly WNS fungus can survive in caves with or without the presence of bats. The regional extinction of North American bats is possible.
The ability of the fungus to grow in caves absent of bats would mean that future attempts to reintroduce bats to previously infected caves would fail. Ongoing research at UA continues to examine the survivability of WNS to help determine the future of bats amid the deadly disease.
Read the full University of Akron article HERE.
Read the full PLoS ONE journal article HERE.
Comparison of the White-Nose Syndrome Agent Pseudogymnoascus destructans to Cave-Dwelling Relatives Suggests Reduced Saprotrophic Enzyme Activity. Reynolds HT, Barton HA (2014). PLoS ONE 9(1): e86437. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086437
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