Topic: The disappearing bats

[Endless~Knot]

This was just in the news yesterday about bats are dying esp in WV due to a bat fungus in caves. If we lose our bats overtime, then they dont eat mosquitos, a big culprit of spreading viruses. Bats do us a great service in the balance by eating their bodyweight in insects which also helps protect us and keep us healthy.

This article was written last year - and yesterday confirmed since then 500,000 bats have dropped. Imagine if that many 'people' had died. That'd be a whole city.


Disappearing Species: First It Was Honeybees, Now Bats?

By Frank Spencer on March 13, 2008 | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) |
In a story reminiscent of the honeybee crisis, biologists say that bat populations may be disappearing, hinting at climate change impacts and damage to ecosystems. In an article for The Online Newshour, Jenny Marder reported on the alarming number of deaths among these insect predators:

"Bats are dying at an alarming rate in the Northeast, and wildlife biologists fear the outbreak could lead to the extinction of the already endangered Indiana bat... Of the roughly 500,000 bats hibernating in the caves affected by the syndrome, Scott Darling, a bat biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, estimates that the fatality rate has exceeded 90 percent. And he fears the toll is rising."

Many of the dead or dying bats have a white fungus on their noses and bodies, giving rise to speculation that a bacteria or virus may be the culprit. However, not all of these bats have signs of the fungus, and most are extremely emaciated. Many have left their hibernation early, flying around in winter conditions in search of food to avoid starvation.

Though scientists in 10 labs across the United States are attempting to pinpoint the source of this widespread scourge in the bat population, a simple answer has escaped them thus far. While some have suggested that pesticides and toxins may be causing the bat deaths, others have noted that ecological change resulting in warmer weather could be making the bats hibernate much later than usual, long after their supply of insects has vanished for the year. And since the main source of their diet is insects such as mosquitoes, many biologists believe that this year's insect population may swell to record numbers, meaning that the possibility of West Nile Virus will be even greater. Bats also eat caterpillars and beetles, and any outbreak of these insects could spell trouble for farm crops and fruit orchards.

Once again, we are forced to face the fact that our actions and decisions never have singular outcomes, and often result in  consequences far worse than the original problem we were attempting to fix.

Image: Rob and Stephanie (Flickr)

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1 Comments
By Dr. Mike Robe on July 1, 2008 10:45 PM
The dying of the bees & bats ought to be seen as the "canary in the coal mine", a clear sign that homo-sapiens have contaminated our environment to the extent that species that have been here for billions of years, can no longer survive, are dying off.

The honeybees are primary food crop pollenators, the bats are fantastic insect control, part of the balance of nature.

Arrogant people at Monsanto, et al, fail to recognize that sustainability requires reverence for nature and natural systems. GMO's and nuclear power are destined to destroy life as we know it. Nuclear power is neither safe or cost effective. Your homeowner's insurance and mine have exclusion clauses for nuclear accidents. Insurance companies are in the business of risk management, and those exclusions mean that those specialists in risk management believe that nuclear is an unacceptable risk.

YOU and I must wake up, and take action to stop the insanity. Anyone who thinks one person is too insignificant to really be noticed, has never tried sleeping in the same room with a mosquito.

[Endless~Knot]

From yesterdays news:

Forest Service closes caves to stop bat fungus
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print  AP – FILE - In this Jan. 2009 file photo, Scott Crocoll holds a dead Indiana bat in an abandoned mine in Rosendale, … By BRIAN FARKAS, Associated Press Writer Brian Farkas, Associated Press Writer – 5 mins ago

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The U.S. Forest Service is closing thousands of caves and former mines in national forests in 33 states in an effort to control a fungus that has already killed an estimated 500,000 bats.

Bats have been dying at alarming rates from what scientists call "white-nose syndrome," so-named because it appears as a white powder on the face and wings of hibernating bats.

The problem was first spotted in New York and within two years has spread to caves in West Virginia and Virginia. There's no evidence the fungus is harmful to people.

Researchers believe the fungus is spread from bat to bat, but they have not ruled out the possibility that humans tromping from cave to cave might help to transmit it on their shoes and equipment, said Dennis Krusac, a biologist with the service's Southern region.

"We don't have the answers at this point," he said. "If we have answers in a year or sooner, we can open them back up."

Forest Service biologist Becky Ewing said an emergency order was issued last week for caves in 20 states from Minnesota to Maine. A second order covering the Forest Service's 13-state Southern region should be issued later this month.

The sites will be closed for up to a year, she said.

The orders follow a March request by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for people to voluntarily stay out of caves in 17 states.

Biologists are concerned the fungus could wipe out endangered Indiana, Virginia and Ozark big-eared and gray bats.

Bats play a key role in keeping insects such as mosquitoes under control. Between April and October, they usually eat their body weight in bugs per night. The loss of 500,000 bats means 2.4 million pounds of bugs aren't eaten in a year, Ewing said.

New York caver Peter Haberland said organized caving groups shouldn't object to the closures.

"For a period of a year, most people can deal with that," said Haberland, who serves on the Northeastern Cave Conservancy's board.

He said the order should have little effect in the Northeast since just a few national forests there offer caving and many caves are on private property.

Peter Youngbaer, white nose syndrome liaison for the National Speleological Society, another caving group, said education will be key because many people who explore caves don't belong to organized groups.

"There is a huge concern," he said. "The recreation aspect is probably the least of our concerns."

The Forest Service order says people caught in a cave or mine face up to six months in jail and fines of up to $10,000. Ewing said Forest Service officials will enforce the bans.

Youngbaer said he isn't convinced humans help transmit the fungus, which kills the bats because it affects their hibernation habits, causing them to starve.

A study based on soil samples taken from 200 sites in 30 states should help resolve that question.

"There is no question that it's spreading bat to bat and spreading from bat to bat rapidly," he said. "If it turns out the fungus is living in the caves anyway ... humans moving around doesn't mean anything."

Many of the caves in question are in the 919,000-acre Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, which this week announced it would extend a ban imposed last year that only affected caves considered to be at high risk for the fungus.

On Friday, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources moved to close caves on state-owned property until April even though the disease has not been found in Indiana.

Last month, officials closed all of the caves in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Krusac said the orders do not affect commercial caves on private property.

Officials in the Ozark National Forest are debating whether to impose restrictions on wild cave adventures on the forest's Blanchard Springs Caverns.