Why do we need to be concerned?
White-nose Syndrome was first recognized in the winter from 2006 to 2007. The bats were awakened out of hibernation with fungus growing on their nose. When the bats would fly from their home there would be no food source and extreme weather conditions for them. This lead to starvation and freezing. According to whitenosesyndrome.org “WNS has killed more than 5.7 million bats in eastern North America.” Since 2006 the number of cases has grown to and started to spread westward. In the winter from 2016 to 2017 the fungus made it as far west as Texas and an isolated case in Washington state. Why is there such an isolated case? Although not proven it is thought that a caver brought the fungus with them from another cave in the Eastern United States. It seems that the fungus is growing so quickly from bat to bat contact.
https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/sites/default/files/wnsspreadmap_6_19_2017_0.jpg
Bats are an import part of our ecosystem. Many of the bat species in North America have a diet of insects. This helps our economy as they are acting as a natural pest control for agriculture. USGS calculated the savings for farmers as much as 53 billion dollars a year in pest control. Western Desert plants and cacti also rely on bats. Pollinator bats living in this region migrate from Mexico when the agave and saguaro cacti are in bloom. Helping the many tequila distilleries in the United States. The loss of bats would be devastating within the United States.
Is everyone on the same page?
Not all scientist believe that there needs to be a worry for the extinction of any animal. Doug Erwin Smithsonian paleontologist disagrees that we need to worry about being in a mass extinction. Erwin suggests that saying extinction is just “a way of frightening people into action, when in fact, if it’s actually true we’re in a sixth mass extinction, then there’s no point in conservation biology.” Extinction of animals is natural and to have a mass extinction 90% of species would need to die out.
https://adventuresrediscovery.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/white-nose-syndrome_cavesclosed.jpg
All recreational caves on Government property are being well secured from the public as the investigation continues. There is a lot of scare and uncertainty around WNS with more cases every year. Within the next 15 to 20 years, the brown bat could go completely extinct.
I found the information you added to be really interesting. I had no idea that bats had such a huge effect on agriculture in the US. I’d be interested in seeing what the projection would be of the effects of these deaths due to White-noise Syndrome would have on the agriculture industry in the future or what the alternative options are for farmers in place of bats if this became a real issue.
ReplyDeleteI like that you added statistics from how many bats have died to how much money the bats save farmers in agricultural use, its so sad to know what a difference their presence makes because their absence would be destructive. It also angers me that some scientist don't think that it would be such a deal if the bats completely died out, but knowing these facts should also make you wonder if we should be doing everything to save them. The stats shown in this blog do make a change in the environment and many steps should be taken to preserve them so in the long run our ecosystems don't suffer from a loss of an animal.
ReplyDeleteThe effect on bat populations and the effects brought on by such a decline is really interesting and incredibly pivotal to the point on pesticide uses. Regarding the fungus itself, it would be interesting to see how exactly this problem is not only being fought, but if the way it’s being fought is helping and possible ways other ways it could be fought.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog about the white-nose effect on the bat population in North America. I found the information you found to be very interesting, have you thought of what things the farmers could use instead for his farm and pest control, in case the bat population were to continue decreasing? I really look forward to reading more about your essay!
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