Going, going, gone: the impact of white-nose syndrome on the summer activity of the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) |
| |
Authors: | Dzal Yvonne McGuire Liam P Veselka Nina Fenton M Brock |
| |
Affiliation: | Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada. dzal@zoology.ubc.ca |
| |
Abstract: | Since its discovery in the winter of 2005-2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed over one million little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in the American northeast. Although many studies have reported die-offs of bats at winter hibernacula, it is important to understand how bat mortality linked to WNS at winter hibernacula affects bat activity levels in their summer ranges. In the summer (May-August) of 2007, 2008 and 2009, we recorded echolocation calls to determine bat activity at sites along the Hudson River, NY (within approx. 100 km of where WNS was first reported). We documented a 78 per cent decline in the summer activity of M. lucifugus, coinciding with the arrival and spread of WNS. We suggest that mortality of M. lucifugus in winter hibernacula is reflected by reduced levels of activity in the summer and that WNS affects the entire bat population of an area, and not only individual hibernacula. |
| |
Keywords: | white-nose syndrome Myotis lucifugus bats summer activity bat mortality |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|