Northeastern USA Ecosystems Under Attack

By the White-Nose Fungus. It is decimating bat populations in the Northeastern United States.

First observed in Howe Caverns near Albany, N.Y., in early 2006, white nose syndrome has spread north to New Hampshire and Vermont and south to Virginia. At least a million bats in six species have already perished, and death rates at infected hibernacula range between 90 and 100 percent.

Ninety to one hundred percent.

However, it's not just the bats which suffer, the rest of the ecosystem suffers as well:

... because bats are essential to the control of nocturnal flying insects, the outbreak could upset local ecologies, weaken the health of forests and even affect crop yields.

So how much money have we set aside to combat this fungus and syndrome? A total of 1.1 million dollars. A paltry sum of money to fight something of this magnitude.

This past May, 25 U.S. Senators and Representatives signed a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urging emergency funding for agencies with the expertise to “determine a cause and develop solutions to this crisis.”

It's been requested that at least $17 million be set aside for immediate research efforts. Write your congressional representatives and ask them to support research to combat this disease.

Wind Turbines == Bat Killing Machines

Windturbines cause barotrauma in bats.

Ninety percent of the bats they examined after death showed signs of internal hemorrhaging consistent with trauma from the sudden drop in air pressure (a condition known as barotrauma) at turbine blades. Only about half of the bats showed any evidence of direct contact with the blades.

So?

The majority of bats killed at wind turbines are migratory bats that roost in trees, including hoary bats, eastern red bats, and silver-haired bats. While little is known about their population sizes, the researchers said, those deaths could have far-reaching consequences.

Bats typically live for many years, in some cases reaching ages of 30 or more. Most also have just one or two pups at a time, and not necessarily every year. "Slow reproductive rates can limit a population's ability to recover from crashes and thereby increase the risk of endangerment or extinction," said Robert Barclay, also at the University of Calgary, noting that migrating animals tend to be more vulnerable as it is.

All three species of migratory bats killed by wind turbines fly at night, eating thousands of insects—including many crop pests—per day as they go. Therefore, bat losses in one area could have very real effects on ecosystems miles away, along the bats' migration routes.