Science Features
White-nose syndrome (WNS) has now been found in bats in two caves in Eastern Missouri. Evidence of the fungus was first detected in the state in 2010, although the disease was not confirmed in bats until late March 2012 by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC).
Little brown bat with fungus on muzzle.
Winter Home
Missouri has more than 6,300 caves and the implications for the potential spread of WNS farther west are profound. Missouri caves provide winter habitat for more endangered Indiana bats than any other state outside of Indiana. Three Missouri caves used by endangered gray bats provide critical winter habitat for approximately one quarter of the known hibernating population of that species. Detection of WNS in Missouri also indicates the disease may continue spreading towards the range of more than a dozen additional species of hibernating bats that occur only west of the Great Plains.
What Is It?
White-nose sydrome results from a skin infection of hibernating bats by a fungus previously unknown to science, Geomyces destructans; and is named for the white fungus often seen on the muzzles, ears, and wings of bats. This disease poses a threat to cave hibernating bats of the United States, Canada, and potentially all temperate regions of the world. In 2011, scientists from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center published a study confirming the cold-loving fungus G. destructans is the cause of WNS.
Where Is It?
Hibernating little brown bat with white muzzle typical of White-nose syndrome.
This devastating disease affecting hibernating bats has spread from the Northeast to the mid-Atlantic to the central United States. Since the winter of 2007-2008, millions of insect-eating bats have died from this emerging disease in the eastern US and Canadian provinces.
Within the last two years, WNS has been confirmed in several central states, including Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. However, high mortality of bats has not yet been reported at these locations. The US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates bat mortality in the northeastern US since the emergence of WNS has exceeded 5-6 million bats, however, it remains to be seen if WNS will develop and manifest with similar severity in other parts of the country.
Hard at Work
Scientists at many Federal and State agencies and academic institutions are pursuing research to better understand this disease in an effort to manage its spread. The USGS National Wildlife Health Center, the USGS Fort Collins Science Center, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and other partners continue to play a primary role in WNS research.
Studies conducted at the NWHC led to the discovery, characterization, and naming of the causative agent of White-nose syndrome, G. destructans, and to the development of standardized diagnostic criteria for diagnosing the disease. Additionally, NWHC has pioneered animal husbandry and laboratory techniques for studying impacts of the fungus to hibernating bats.
Long-Term Impacts
Most of the species affected by WNS are long-lived and have only a single pup per year. Subsequently, bat populations do not fluctuate widely in numbers over time, and it is unlikely that species of bats affected by WNS will recover quickly. The sudden and widespread mortality associated with WNS is unprecedented in hibernating bats, among which widespread disease outbreaks have not been previously documented. In temperate regions, bats are primary consumers of insects, and a recent economic analysis indicated that insect suppression services (ecosystem services) provided by bats to U.S. agriculture is valued between 4 to 50 billion dollars per year. However, the true ecological consequences of large-scale population reductions currently under way among hibernating bats are not yet known.
Insect-eating bats provide a great pest-control service to agriculture and natural ecosystems.
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It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Did you know invasive species cost our country more than 100 billion dollars each year? Get to know America’s ten top invaders this week.
It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Did you know invasive species cost our country more than 100 billion dollars each year? Get to know America’s ten top invaders this week.
It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Did you know invasive species cost our country more than 100 billion dollars each year? Get to know America’s ten top invaders this week.
The proposed USGS budget reflects research priorities to respond to nationally relevant issues, including water quantity and quality, ecosystem restoration, hydraulic fracturing, natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, and support for the National Ocean Policy, and has a large R&D component.
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By 1936, devastating losses of wildlife populations were threatening the Nation’s natural resource heritage. America's first wildlife research center
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Please answer questions about USGS Ecosystems science.
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Scientists have found that the fungus associated with white-nose syndrome in bats is unlike that of any known fungal skin pathogen in land mammals. It is extremely destructive to bats wing skin and may cause catastrophic imbalance in life-support processes.
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Please comment on the USGS’ draft science strategies! Read more
While on your spring hike, beware of hitchhiking ticks—they may carry Lyme Disease.
The family picnic: food and fun...until unwanted guests show up! Learn what you can do to prevent West Nile virus from infecting your loved ones.
Timing is everything! Consider helping track changes in spring’s arrival
Flood Safety Awareness Week is March. 12-16. What can you do to prepare?
National Groundwater Awareness Week is Mar. 11-17, 2012. See how USGS science is connecting groundwater and surface water.
Since Japan’s March 11, 2011, Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami, scientists at the USGS have learned much to help better prepare for a large earthquake in the United States.
Five USGS employees honored with Distinguished Service Awards for their service to the nation
It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Did you know invasive species cost our country more than 100 billion dollars each year? Get to know America’s ten top invaders this week.
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By 1936, devastating losses of wildlife populations were threatening the Nation’s natural resource heritage. America's first wildlife research center
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As the team of responders struggled to end the worst oil spill in our Nation’s history, USGS scientist Paul Hsieh provided the critical scientific information needed to make a crucial decision.
The movie Contagion dramatizes the scenario of a global pandemic that begins with the spread of a disease from animals to humans. What are real-life experts doing to prevent a pandemic that originates with wildlife?
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USGS crews continue to measure streamflow and collect water quality and sediment samples in the Ohio and Mississippi River basins using state-of-art instruments.
Ten gangly, adolescent whooping cranes have been released in Louisiana, marking a milestone for the USGS, the State of Louisiana, and the whooping cranes. The USGS has the largest breeding flock in the U.S., at about 60 birds. About half of these USGS-raised birds are returned to the wild each year.
Human health, ecological health, and environmental health are closely connected. Join us to learn how USGS science contributes to our understanding of how such environmental factors affect health threats.
Looking for information on natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and more? The USGS Education site provides great resources, including lessons, data, maps, and more, to support teaching, learning, K-12 education, and university-level inquiry and research.
The Chesapeake Bay has long been an R&R destination for DC residents. However, the watershed’s overpopulation contributes to its decline. Join us when USGS’s Scott Phillips and Peter Claggett discuss new science efforts applied to restoring the Nation's largest estuary on October 6th.
USGS scientists help land managers determine if fire is the appropriate strategy for controlling or enhancing specific plant species.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities can be a significant source of pharmaceuticals in surface water. The USGS is working with water utilities to try to reduce the release of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants to the environment.
The United States Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) is working to connect Earth observations with public health, agriculture, climate, and data management and dissemination.
The USGS Science Strategy is a comprehensive report to critically examine the USGS's major science goals and priorities for the coming decade. The USGS is moving forward with these strategic science directions in response to the challenges that our Nation's future faces and for the stewards of our Federal lands.
7 p.m.—Public lecture (also live-streamed over the Internet)
Join us for the July Public Lecture on Invasive Species!
USGS-led survey finds that national wildlife refuges rate highly with visitors.
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Join us on March 7 to learn about bat white-nose syndrome, which has killed an estimate 5 million bats, and to discuss the profound impacts this emergent wildlife disease may have in the 21st century.
The U.S. Geological Survey had a very busy 2011 — below are a few of our highlights from last year.
Scientists have discovered an outbreak of coral disease called Montipora White Syndrome in Kāneohe Bay, Oahu. The affected coral are of the species Montipora capitata, also known as rice coral.
Perhaps some of you have already experienced a sweet holiday smooch or two under the Christmas mistletoe, enjoying this fairly old kissing ritual for people. But mistletoe is important in other vital ways: it provides essential food, cover, and nesting sites for an amazing number of critters in the United States and elsewhere.
USGS scientists will join thousands of scientists, managers, and decision makers in Boston this week to present new findings on toxics at the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) conference in the Hynes Convention Center, Nov. 13-17.
On Nov. 3, USGS scientists Patrick Barnard and William Ellsworth will present a public lecture in Menlo Park, CA, providing Bay Area residents information about USGS research in the San Francisco Bay Area, including recent discoveries beneath San Francisco Bay and ongoing studies to better understand earthquake probabilities and the potential hazards associated with strong ground shaking.
Meet the R/V Muskie and the R/V Kaho, the USGS Great Lakes Science Center's two newest additions to its Great Lakes research fleet!
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Taking advantage of USGS expertise in satellite telemetry, geospatial mapping and analysis and waterfowl migration monitoring, researchers have tracked waterfowl across Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa and discovered new flu transmission links.
USGS is working in collaboration with numerous state and federal agencies and tribes to obtain approval for field trials with vaccine-laden, peanut-butter flavored baits and evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in grasslands.
Psychedelically colored wolves depicted by thermal imaging will shed light on how mange affects the survival, reproduction and social behavior of wolves in Yellowstone National Park.
7 p.m.—Public lecture (also live-streamed over the Internet)
After nearly 2 years of meticulous research, academic and government scientists confirmed that the 2010 oil spill had damaged local coral ecosystems
In recognition of World Forestry Day, let’s take a glimpse at USGS science to understand the fate of forests from climate change.
Join us on March 7 to learn about bat white-nose syndrome, which has killed an estimate 5 million bats, and to discuss the profound impacts this emergent wildlife disease may have in the 21st century.
The U.S. Geological Survey had a very busy 2011 — below are a few of our highlights from last year.
Scientists have discovered an outbreak of coral disease called Montipora White Syndrome in Kāneohe Bay, Oahu. The affected coral are of the species Montipora capitata, also known as rice coral.
Recent USGS research shows that climate, vegetation, groundwater recharge rate, and proximity of the contaminants to the water table can all affect and control natural removal rates.
USGS scientists will join thousands of scientists, managers, and decision makers in Boston this week to present new findings on toxics at the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) conference in the Hynes Convention Center, Nov. 13-17.
On Nov. 3, USGS scientists Patrick Barnard and William Ellsworth will present a public lecture in Menlo Park, CA, providing Bay Area residents information about USGS research in the San Francisco Bay Area, including recent discoveries beneath San Francisco Bay and ongoing studies to better understand earthquake probabilities and the potential hazards associated with strong ground shaking.
Taking advantage of USGS expertise in satellite telemetry, geospatial mapping and analysis and waterfowl migration monitoring, researchers have tracked waterfowl across Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa and discovered new flu transmission links.
USGS is working in collaboration with numerous state and federal agencies and tribes to obtain approval for field trials with vaccine-laden, peanut-butter flavored baits and evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in grasslands.
Psychedelically colored wolves depicted by thermal imaging will shed light on how mange affects the survival, reproduction and social behavior of wolves in Yellowstone National Park.
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/white-nose-syndrome-found-west-of-mississippi-river/
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Page Last Modified: September 14, 2011
