05-Jul-12 10:21AM 
The impact on bat populations of a deadly fungal disease known as
white-nose syndrome may depend on how gregarious the bats are during
hibernation.
Species that hibernate in dense clusters even as their populations
get smaller will continue to transmit the disease at a high rate, dooming them
to continued decline, according to a new study led by researchers at
the University of California, Santa Cruz. One gregarious species has surprised
researchers, however, by changing its social behavior.
White-nose syndrome has decimated bat colonies throughout the northeast
since it first appeared in New York state in 2006, and it continues to spread in
the United States and Canada. In the new study, researchers analyzed population
trends in six bat species in the northeast. They found that some bat populations
are stabilizing at lower abundances, while others appear headed for extinction.
The study, published July 3 in Ecology Letters, examined data from bat surveys
between 1979 and 2010, covering a long period of population growth followed by
dramatic declines caused by white-nose syndrome.
All six species were impacted by white-nose syndrome, but we have evidence
that the populations of some species are beginning to stabilize, which is really
good news," said Kate Langwig, a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz and first
author of the paper. "This study gives us an..
