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Pollinators

The global declines in many kinds of pollinator species could potentially impact the global food supply, as many plants depend upon specific pollinators to reproduce. The Web site of the NBII Pollinators Project provides access to information about the biology, ecology, conservation status, and threats to native pollinators, pollinator-dependent More...

  • animation of a hummingbird pollinating a flower

Mysterious Bat Die-Off

Hibernating bats are dying by the tens of thousands in the northeastern United States, and a growing circle of top scientists is anxiously trying to figure out why. The mystery affliction, reported in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts, is dubbed "white-nose syndrome" because many affected bats had visible halos of white fungus around their More...

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Ecology of Virus Transmission in Commensal Bats

The dynamics of rabies transmission in bat populations that roost and live within cities is being investigated using Fort Collins, Colo., and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) as the case study. USGS biologists are working on this project in collaboration with Colorado State University, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the More...

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Newly Identified Fungus Implicated in White-Nose Syndrome in Bats: Mysterious Bat Disease Decimates Colonies in the Northeast

It has been estimated that over 100,000 bats have died in the northeast due to a mysterious white fungus called White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). Scientists are finding within caves and mines a large number of bats with a white fungus on their muzzles and other parts of their bodies. It is uncertain as to how this fungus is being transmitted and its More...

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White-Nose Syndrome Mystery: Something Is Killing Our Bats

Tens of thousands of hibernating bats died this winter in the northeast, and for unknown reasons. In and around caves and mines in eastern and upstate New York, Vermont, western Massachusetts, and northwestern Connecticut, biologists found sick, dying and dead bats in unprecedented numbers. In just eight of the affected New York caves, mortality More...

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White-Nose Syndrome Threatens the Survival of Hibernating Bats in North America

During the winter of 2006 or 2007, an affliction of unknown origin dubbed "White-Nose Syndrome" (WNS) began devastating colonies of hibernating bats in a small area around Albany, New York. Colonies of hibernating bats were reduced 81-97 percent at the affected caves and mines that were surveyed. Since then, White-Nose Syndrome has been detected More...

  • Brown bat with white-nose syndrome (WNS)

Bat Fatalities at Wind Turbines: Investigating the Causes and Consequences

Recent evidence shows that certain species of bats are particularly susceptible to mortality from wind turbines. Bats are beneficial consumers of harmful insect pests, and migratory species of bats cross international and interstate boundaries. Dead bats are turning up beneath wind turbines all over the world. Bat fatalities have now been More...

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Flying by Night: USGS Scientists Put Technology to Work on Bats

How do you study something that flies under cover of darkness? This question persistently troubles scientists investigating the mysterious lives of bats. The 45 bat species that occur in the continental United States play important roles in U.S. ecosystems as major predators of flying insects and pollinators of desert plants. Bats also play an More...

  • gloved hands holding bat that has radio transmitter attached to its back

Bat Research in California

This site is a summary of bat research efforts by the USGS Western Ecological Research Center. From the site: "Scientists at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center are studying bats in the San Francisco Bay area and in southern California to provide land managers information they need regarding the occurrence and status of bat species." More...

  • big-eared bat

Use of Stable Isotopes to Trace the Migration of United States Tree Bats

Since the early part of the 20th century there have been several accounts of bat flocks appearing in strange places at strange times. However, our understanding of bat migration has advanced little. In hopes of learning more about the migratory habits of bats, USGS biologists Paul Cryan and Michael Bogan from the Arid Lands Field Station teamed up More...

  • tree bat

Bats of Jewel Cave

In 1995, the Fort Collins Science Center, Biological Resources Discipline, United States Geological Survey initiated a cooperative study with the National Park Service to study the bats of Jewel Cave National Monument. The major goals of this project were to define distribution patterns and roosting habits of bats in the area. One of the More...

  • Paul Cryan during a bat survey at Jewel Cave

Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?

The condition in bats known as "white-nose syndrome" (WNS) was first noted among dead and hibernating bats found in caves near Albany, New York, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation beginning in February 2007. Affected bats appeared to have a white substance on their heads and wings. In early 2008, "white-nosed" bats were More...

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