Guest blog: Bat researcher Joy O’Keefe invigorated by curiousity of young scientist

Student scientist, Ashley Saulsberry

A few months ago I posted about a high school student, Frances, who had contacted me with an interest in WNS. Not long after, I started corresponding with another student, Ashley Saulsberry, in Tennessee. Ashley was also interested in WNS and what she could do to help. I connected Frances and Ashley, both of whom were working on school projects related to WNS. I also put Ashley in touch with a good friend and colleague of mine, Joy O’Keefe. Joy is an Assistant Professor and bat researcher at Indiana State University. Some of Joy’s work takes her to east Tennessee to work with Indiana bats in and around Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I had hoped that Ashley could get out in the field with Joy and see some of the work bat researchers are doing up close. Joy and Ashley worked together and were able to provide Ashley with an opportunity to spend several weeks in the field, doing an internship on one of Joy’s research projects. Here Joy talks about the excitement of working with this extremely bright and wonderful young scientist.

In January, I received an email from Ashley Saulsberry, a high school senior in middle Tennessee. Because of her concerns over the impacts of white-nose syndrome, Ashley expressed an interest in helping with bat research. I was intrigued by the prospect of taking on an intern who was so young, but already so committed to science that she was willing to volunteer to work with someone she’d never met. When we chatted by phone, I gave Ashley the usual list of admonitions about the dangers and stresses of field work, but she was undaunted and she committed to joining me in the field. Ashley decided she would like to assist on a project on the effects of prescribed fire on Indiana bat roost habitat in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Ashley's whiteboard drawing of the Indiana bat roost tree

When Ashley arrived at our field house in the Great Smoky Mountains National Parkin early June, my graduate student, three technicians, and I were already immersed in field work. We were netting several nights a week and using radio telemetry to locate Indiana bat maternity roosts every day. Our field house was already cramped and Ashley had to bed down on an air mattress, but she did not complain. Ashley didn’t get much sleep the first few nights anyway, as we would roll in from netting around 3 am only to start tracking the next morning. On her second night with us, Ashley got to see her first Indiana bat – a very pregnant adult female captured on the Nantahala National Forest. As my technician Katherine activated the radio transmitter, she told Ashley to pay attention to the beep because it was a magic beep that would lead us to a roost tree. The next day, with my guidance, Ashley tracked the female, following the magic beep to a large dead pine along the lakeshore. This maternity tree really became Ashley’s tree, as she visited it with each of my technicians and was present for most of the emergence counts. The colony swelled from 40 to 75 bats, so each emergence count was more exciting than the one before it. When she left us near the end of June, Ashley immortalized the tree with a drawing on our white board.

With the WNS decontamination protocols and DNA/hair samples for every bat, running the table at a mistnet site has become a complex endeavor. Because Ashley did not have her rabies shots, taking down data and manning the table became her job when we netted for bats. All of us were impressed with her ability to multitask, keeping data and equipment straight when two or three people were calling out weights, forearm measurements, and times for new captures. Ashley enjoyed this aspect of the job, and I think she learned the importance of being diligent about data collection.

Joy O'Keefe inspecting a bat

For my crew and me, a novel part of having a young scientist in our midst was watching her interests emerge and evolve over the short time that she was with us. Ashley came to the mountains for bats, but I think she left realizing that she was even more fascinated with things that creep and crawl. There was no invertebrate, reptile, or amphibian that did not excite her. On a rainy night when we couldn’t net for bats, Ashley was thrilled when I suggested a herp walk down the trail and even more thrilled to find slugs, a garter snake, and dusky salamanders. From then on, whenever one of us found a cool insect, our first thought was to show it to Ashley. Weeks after she’d left, my technician Joey was still saying, “If Ashley were here, she’d really like this spider…praying mantis…beetle.” When I returned home for a few days, I grabbed a textbook on freshwater invertebrates to bring back to Ashley; in the few days she had left with us, Ashley devoured as much of the book as she could.

My experience with Ashley gave me great hope, because Ashley had a heightened appreciation for creatures, including bats, which many people think of as undesirable. I think her father, an avid caver and nature buff, played a big part in fostering this appreciation in Ashley. I hope that I helped to further Ashley’s interests, while also teaching her a little about how to ask and answer research questions. Ashley taught me that a little enthusiasm can go a long way – my crew and I still miss her curiosity and fervor for the natural world.

Guest blog: resource scientist Tony Elliott recaps Missouri bat surveys

In the middle of a tough hibernation season for bats, it is great to hear some good news. With several new states and a third Canadian province confirming a number of new WNS sites in 2011, Missouri remains hopeful that the disease will not take hold. I was fortunate enough to be invited to assist in some Indiana bat and WNS surveys with Missouri Department of Conservation resource scientist Tony Elliot and cave biology assistant Shelly Colatskie earlier this year. Tony was kind enough to offer this update after MDC’s winter survey season.



Tony Elliott (MDC) surveying bats for WNS, credit Ann Froschauer/USFWS

We have wrapped a busy winter of cave survey efforts here in Missouri. Our focus this winter has been on conducting bat counts at our main Indiana bat hibernation sites and surveillance for signs of white-nose syndrome.

I look forward to these surveys because they are a chance to get out in the field, visit different caves throughout the state, and (best of all) see a bunch of bats. However, the need to conduct WNS surveillance added a sense of trepidation to my outlook heading into this year’s surveys. We documented the presence of the fungus associated with WNS at a couple of locations in Missouri last spring and therefore expected to see some signs of the disease this winter. We adjusted the timing of our surveys a bit to give ourselves the best chance of seeing signs of WNS if it was present, stocked up decontamination supplies, and slowly began surveys in mid-December hitting full stride in early February.

Despite quite a bit of snowfall for this part of the country, we were able to conduct all of our surveys as planned with no major problems (yes – that means there were some minor problems, but no need to go into details here). We soon tired of the smell of bleach and other decontamination cleansers, but were encouraged by seemingly stable bat numbers and no signs of WNS. We did send a few samples in to the lab for testing, but they all came back negative for both the disease and presence of the fungus. Also, we have not received any reports of bats dying outside of caves in Missouri.

hibernating little brown and Indiana bats, credit Ann Froschauer/USFWS

So, for now, the news out of Missouri is good. We could still pick up signs of the fungus again this spring, but “our” bats are becoming active and we would be very surprised to see any WNS mortality this spring. Also, the preliminary results of our bat counts indicate that bat numbers are probably stable compared to surveys conducted two years ago.

MDC and USFWS scientists prepare to survey a site for WNS

Earlier I mentioned looking forward to these surveys for several reasons; the other big reason is the people that I get to interact with during this work. I get to go out into the field with land managers from within my own agency and partner agencies throughout the state. I also work with private land owners and citizens who are involved in cave conservation and protection. All of these individuals are a tremendous help during the surveys, whether allowing us access to or guiding us through a site we could not do this work without them. Additionally, the folks that go into the field with us consistently provide different perspectives, good challenging questions, and good humor to our work. We appreciate all of the assistance and look forward to the next survey period, hoping against hope that WNS continues to spare Missouri’s bats.

Guest blog: wildlife biologist Ella Rowan inspired by students

To say it can sometimes be a personal challenge to remain positive while working on WNS would be an understatement.

We often hear “is there any good news?” when it comes to WNS. Usually, the positivity in this work comes from our partnerships with other federal, state and tribal agencies and our research, university and NGO partners.

Occasionally something amazing happens and we are reminded that there are a lot of people who really care about bats and what we do. Guest blogger Ella Rowan talks a little bit about being inspired to continue her work with WNS.

In January 2011, I was alerted to a post written on this blog. The post excerpt was written by a high school student, Frances, who lives in my state of Washington. Frances had read about WNS in a recent National Geographic article and instantly became impassioned about educating people about the disease and bats.

Ann, with the USFWS, helped connect Frances and me via email and eventually through a phone conversation. We discussed bats, WNS and ways we could educate the public. Frances told me about the letters she had written to numerous magazines and journals….one of which was recently published by Capital Press . I left the conversation with hope. We all see the disconnect between people and nature in the younger generation, so it was very uplifting to see a young person so impassioned by wildlife…especially one who was willing to take action to solve a problem.

Frances told me about her new friend Ashley from Tennessee, whom she met due to their shared grass-roots efforts surrounding WNS education. I spoke with Ashley and was able to learn about the work she is doing through her high school to raise awareness. Both of these young women are an inspiration and bring glimmers of positivity to what has been over 5 years of bad news. Thank you Frances and Ashley!

I suspect many people have been equally touched by the WNS story and are willing to take action if given the opportunity and guidance. Nationwide, how can we better utilize citizen efforts to help bats and other wildlife?

Ella Rowan is a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Ella Rowan

Bats are beautiful: Artwork inspired by 30+ years of working with bats

Chester O. Martin has been working with bats for more than 30 years, and still finds them captivating. “I started working with bats while at Texas A&M in the 70s, doing my thesis work with pallid bats.” said Martin. His bat and wildlife-inspired artwork is on display this week at the 2011 Eastern Bat Working Group Meeting in Louisville, Ky.

Chester, who recently retired from his position as wildlife biologist with the Army Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi, was instrumental in getting the Army interested in bat research, and has been conducting bat studies on military lands over the last 15 years. He also founded the Mississippi Bat Working Group and the National Military Fish and Wildlife Association Bat Working Group.

These days, he stays involved with bats as Research Emeritus with the Army Research and Development Center, but will soon be “retiring” from that position. He plans to focus more on his artwork. Chester, who is self-taught, has been painting all his life but started getting serious about his work in the 90s.

Painting isn’t the only way he honors these amazing winged mammals. Below I’ll share a recent poem inspired by the countless bats lost to white-nose syndrome.

For those of us who work with bats everyday, it isn’t hard to see the beauty inherent in them, or be inspired to want to share our love of bats with the world. But not everyone reads scientific journals, internet blogs, or popular magazines and newspapers. And not all of us are so skilled with quill or brush…

Thank you, Chester, for sharing your poetry and art with us.

 

They Once Flew Here

(a poem dedicated to the memory of bats lost to WNS)

by Chester O. Martin

They once flew here
Across the darkened skies,
Awakened from their daily sleep
To feed among the running creeks,
To dip and swerve in wooded lanes
And capture insects on the wing.

Their numbers were in thousands score,
But now their presence is no more.
The dread disease took hold so fast
That none survived the holocaust.
The caves are quiet, the woods are still.
There once was life, and now there’s nil.

What brought it here we are not sure.
We struggle now to find a cure,
In hopes a new awakening
Will bring them to this place again
Until that time we wait and pray
That someday they’ll be back to stay.

We hold them in our thoughts so dear
Remembering – they once flew here.

National WNS team meets with USFWS Deputy Director Dan Ashe

Dan Ashe, Ann Froschauer and Jeremy Coleman at USFWS Northeast Regional Biologists Conference

National WNS Coordinator Jeremy Coleman and Communications Leader Ann Froschauer met today with Deputy Director Dan Ashe at the USFWS Northeast Regional Biologists Conference in Baltimore, Md.

Ashe, nominated as director of the USFWS, addressed questions about the USFWS response to white-nose syndrome during a confirmation hearing earlier this week.

Over 400 fish and wildlife biologists from the Northeast attended the conference, where Coleman presented a session on the history, current research and management strategy related to white-nose syndrome.

Guest speakers, noteably Dr. Tom Kunz of the Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, Boston University and Michael Schirmacher of Bat Conservation International, also discussed methods for assessing impacts and mitigation strategies for reducing fatalities at utility-scale wind-energy facilities.

Several species of cave hibernating bats affected by white-nose syndrome are also reported to suffer significant fatalities at wind-energy facilities.

Is there a relationship between white nose syndrome and colony collapse disorder in bees?

One of the most common inquiries I receive asks if there is any relationship between colony collapse disorder in bees and white-nose syndrome in bats.

I asked microbiologist David Blehert with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center to explain the similarities and differences between the two wildlife diseases:

People have frequently asked whether there is a connection between colony collapse disorder (CCD) in domestic honey bees and white-nose syndrome (WNS) in wild bats. Despite perceived similarities, the bee and bat diseases are quite different. Colony collapse disorder affects a single species, the European honey bee, a non-native domesticated bee species in North America that is maintained in artificial hives by bee keepers. In contrast, WNS affects many species of wild bats that are native to North America.

The causative agents for each disease are also different. Current research suggests that CCD is caused by the combined effects of a virus and a fungus (see Iridovirus and Microsporidian linked to honey bee colony decline). In contrast, scientific evidence indicates that a fungus alone causes WNS, the bat disease. The WNS-fungus is a cold-loving species that is distinct from the fungus associated with bee CCD, and it only infects bats while they are hibernating. There is no evidence to suggest viral involvement in WNS.

For a recent overview of WNS, David suggests reading Wing pathology associated with white-nose syndrome in bats suggests life-threatening disruption of physiology.

Guest blog: USGS Research Biologist Paul Cryan talks about his work with WNS

Many of you probably saw the recent media coverage of the “Tattered Wings” research paper (see USGS Press Release and podcast). This excellent paper explores the effects of WNS on bats’ wing tissue, and how this damage could lead to the mortality of WNS-affected bats.

Paul Cryan, lead author and Research Biologist at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center, talks a little bit about his experiences with the research behind this paper.

It was four years ago this winter that cavers and biologists started noticing very strange things happening with bats hibernating at a few caves near Albany, New York: bats with white fungal growth on their bodies, unusual activity of bats that should have still been hibernating, and mass mortality unlike anything previously documented. As white-nose syndrome (WNS) quickly spread in the following winters and left declining bat populations in its wake, conservation organizations, resource managers, and researchers all scrambled to find out its cause. For almost an entire year, there was considerable uncertainty as to what might be at the root of the problem. Eventually through some unconventional forensic detective work, disease researchers discovered a mysterious fungus consistently infecting the skin of WNS bats. The fungus was named Geomyces destructans, which roughly translates from Latin to ‘the destroying soil fungus.’ How could skin infection by a soil fungus kill bats? This question has been a major component of the WNS investigation and a particular research focus of USGS, the primary science-support agency for the U.S. Department of Interior.

One of the most exciting parts of doing science is sharing ideas and searching for solutions to problems with people who have very different backgrounds of experience and knowledge. It was from such a group that a recent paper published in BMC Biology was conceived. The effort integrated ideas from researchers with expertise in wildlife diseases and pathology, fungal biology, and bat hibernation physiology. The title of the paper is ‘Wing pathology of white-nose syndrome in bats suggests life-threatening disruption of physiology’. In a nutshell, it points out that the wings of bats play very important roles in keeping them healthy during hibernation and that Geomyces destructans is unlike any fungus we have ever seen before—combine the vulnerable skin wings of bats with a fungus that is adept at destroying cold skin and you get a recipe for disaster. Bats rely on their wings for much more than just getting around during winter. Wings are body organs that help hibernating bats maintain healthy balances of water, air, and heat in their bodies during the 6-8 months of hibernation when food is not available and they must live off of body fat. The BMC Biology paper drew together the sometimes subtle evidence on the importance of hibernating bat wings and the serious nature of fungal wing infection, and then proposed several testable hypotheses linking fungal skin infection to death. Our hope is that this paper will inspire other researchers to rigorously test some of the explanations we proposed and winnow away those that are wrong, bringing us closer to the truth of how a soil fungus could be causing such a disastrous disease for hibernating bats. If we can clearly determine the chain of events that lead from fungal particles first touching a bat to its eventual death, we will undoubtedly find certain links in that chain that are weaker than others. Perhaps targeting management and conservation actions at those weak links will help lessen the impacts of this devastating disease on hibernating bats in North America.