English

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a newly emergent disease that potentially threatens all temperate bat species. A recently identified fungus, Geomyces destructans, is the most likely causative agent of this disease. Until 2009, WNS and G. destructans were exclusively known from North America, but recent studies have confirmed this fungus is also present in Europe. We assembled an international WNS consortium of 67 scientists from 29 countries and identified the most important research and conservation priorities to assess the risk of WNS to European bats. Here, we review what is known about WNS and G. destructans and detail the conservation and research recommendations aimed at understanding and containing this emerging infectious disease.

The worldwide use of pesticides in agriculture results in residues of insecticides being commonly found in many environments, from the cropping fields and orchards to rivers, estuaries and oceans, and even urban environments. Insecticides are useful to control pest outbreaks, but insecticide pollution is one of the many problems faced by our modern society. This is because the extreme toxicity of most of these natural and man-made chemicals affects not only the target pests but also many other species of animals, although in different degrees. Indeed, insecticides can alter the ecological structure of earthworms and arthropod communities in the soil and around crops, thus affecting birds and other vertebrates that feed on these organisms. Insecticide spray drift can kill birds in the vicinity of crops, and their water-borne residues can decimate zooplankton, aquatic larvae of crustaceans and insects for short or long periods of time, or affect the growth and development of tadpoles and fish. It is imperative, therefore, that the society recognises the hazards and risks of using insecticides.

Our understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity at different levels of biological organisation has not kept abreast with the overwhelming progress experienced in the development of new pesticides. While chemical companies introduced new plant protection products in the market at a staggering pace, environmental toxicology has trailed behind.

In an August 17, 2012, Federal Register notice, EPA announced that it is seeking comments on a proposal jointly developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“the Services”) to enhance opportunities for stakeholder input during pesticide registration reviews and endangered species consultations.

Rabies is a virus that affects the nervous system of humans and other mammals. Humans can get rabies after being bitten by an infected animal. Rabies can also be contracted when saliva from a rabid animal gets directly into a person’s eyes, nose, mouth or a wound. People usually know when they have been bitten by a bat, but bats have very small teeth and the bite mark may not be easy to see. If you find yourself in close proximity to a bat and are not sure if you were exposed, for example – you wake up and find a bat in your room, do not kill or release the bat before calling your doctor or local health department to help determine if you could have been exposed to rabies and need preventive treatment. Any wild mammal such as a raccoon, skunk, fox, coyote or bat, can have rabies and transmit it to humans.Bats are the primary carrier of rabies in Illinois and already this year, 52 bats have tested positive for rabies in 24 counties. In 2011, 51 bats tested positive for rabies in Illinois.

THE Tweed's bats are going through tough times and a lack of food has forced the animals to invade people's backyards in search of something to eat. A Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland spokesperson said a prolonged period of wet weather resulted in nectar and pollen being washed from flowers, and has made it nearly impossible for bats to find the food they desperately need. Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers bat coordinator Connie Kerr said the situation was improving as winter was coming to an end and more flowers were emerging. Although bats found or caught recently were underweight, their future looked a little rosier as more and more flowers bloomed and provided nectar and pollen to the animals. Ms Kerr said the bats were a very important part of the local eco-system and were capable of pollinating certain hardwood trees which could not be pollinated by any other animals including insects and birds. Bats also pollinated the Eucalyptus trees on which koalas depended, and without the bats koalas would be in an even more vulnerable position. Ms Kerr advised against feeding the bats and said the best way to help the animals was to plant native flowering plants and trees.

In a season of growing concern about the West Nile Virus, a mysterious illness that has killed millions of mosquito-eating bats has added to the worry about that infection, and about bats in general. It’s called white nose syndrome, a fungal growth on the noses and wings of many species of bats, some of them already endangered. It was first observed in a cave in New York in 2006 and has spread throughout much of the northeastern United States. “It moved into Virginia in ’09. We have our first two documented caves in ’09,” said Jeff Trollinger, Deputy Director for Statewide Resources, Bureau of Wildlife Resources at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. “It has been growing extremely fast. “We don’t know what causes it and we’re not even sure the fungus itself is what is actually killing the bats,” Trollinger added. Scientists believe the fungus may interrupt hibernation, leaving the mammals too weak and thin to survive.

A study by the University of Koblenz-Landau revealed that pesticide contamination of their diet can lead to long-term effects in bats. Studies have already indicated that bats are particularly sensitive to pesticides. The threatened animals are still ignored in the risk assessment procedure, even after the amendment of the applicable regulations in 2009, since there is a lack of data according to Dr. Carsten Brühl and Peter Stahlschmidt from the Institute for Environmental Sciences at Landau. "Most studies on bats were carried out in protected areas or in forests" explains Stahlschmidt. So far it was not investigated whether bats forage for food in the agricultural landscape at all although more than half the area of Germany is used for agriculture. In a previous study, the researchers were able to detect 14 bat species on intensively managed agricultural land. In their current study, the Landauer ecotoxicologists took a closer look on the diet of bats in a fruit-tree plantation. After spraying the commercial pesticide active ingredient fenoxycarb, which inhibits the growth of insects, the scientists measured the remaining chemical residues on flies, moths and spiders for two weeks. The highest residues were recorded on leaf dwelling insects and spiders, lower contamination was found for flying insects. Based on this data, they calculated different scenarios of the current risk assessment procedure. In the calculated best-case scenario, where the animals find their food also in unpolluted areas, long-term effects of one of the six used bat species in the calculation could not be ruled out, in the worst case scenario 3 bat species were affected. Hardest hit were so called gleaners, bats that collect insects and spiders from the leaves of the fruit trees.

In 2009 Argentine government scientist Professor Andrés Carrasco announced his findings that glyphosate herbicide causes malformations in frog and chicken embryos, in doses much lower than those used in agricultural spraying. Carrasco commented, “The findings in the lab are compatible with malformations observed in humans exposed to glyphosate during pregnancy.” He added that his findings have serious implications for people because the experimental animals share similar developmental mechanisms with humans. In April 2010 a commission opened by the provincial government of Chaco in Argentina completed a report analyzing health statistics in the town of La Leonesa and other areas where soy and rice crops are heavily sprayed. The commission reported that the childhood cancer rate tripled in La Leonesa from 2000 to 2009. The rate of birth defects increased nearly fourfold over the entire state of Chaco. This dramatic increase of disease coincided with the expansion of glyphosate and other agrochemical spraying in the province.