Disease alters macroecological patterns of North American bats
Corresponding Author
Winifred F. Frick
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Correspondence: Winifred F. Frick, Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSébastien J. Puechmaille
Zoology Institute, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, 4 Ireland
Groupe Chiroptères de Midi-Pyrénées (CREN-GCMP), Toulouse, France
Search for more papers by this authorJoseph R. Hoyt
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorBarry A. Nickel
Center for Integrated Spatial Research, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorKate E. Langwig
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorJeffrey T. Foster
Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011 USA
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824 USA
Search for more papers by this authorKate E. Barlow
Bat Conservation Trust, Quadrant House, 250 Kennington Lane, London, SE11 5RD UK
Search for more papers by this authorTomáš Bartonička
Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, CZ 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
Search for more papers by this authorDan Feller
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Appalachian Laboratory, Wildlife and Heritage Service, 301 Braddock Rd., Frostburg, MD, 21532 USA
Search for more papers by this authorAnne-Jifke Haarsma
Department of Animal Ecology and Ecophysiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorCarl Herzog
Wildlife Diversity Unit, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY, 12233 USA
Search for more papers by this authorIvan Horáček
Department of Zoology, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ 128 44 Praha, Czech Republic
Search for more papers by this authorJeroen van der Kooij
Norwegian Zoological Society, PB 102 Blindern, 0314 Oslo, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorBart Mulkens
Vleermuizenwerkgroep Natuurpunt VZW, Coxiestraat 11, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorBoyan Petrov
National Museum of Natural History, Tsar Osvoboditel 1, Sofia, 1000 Bulgaria
Search for more papers by this authorRick Reynolds
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 517 Lee Highway, Verona, VA, 24482 USA
Search for more papers by this authorLuísa Rodrigues
Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Av. da República 16-16B, 1050-191 Lisboa, Portugal
Search for more papers by this authorCraig W. Stihler
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Section, Elkins, WV, 26241 USA
Search for more papers by this authorGregory G. Turner
Wildlife Diversity Division, Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2001 Emerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA, 16669 USA
Search for more papers by this authorA. Marm Kilpatrick
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Winifred F. Frick
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Correspondence: Winifred F. Frick, Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSébastien J. Puechmaille
Zoology Institute, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, 4 Ireland
Groupe Chiroptères de Midi-Pyrénées (CREN-GCMP), Toulouse, France
Search for more papers by this authorJoseph R. Hoyt
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorBarry A. Nickel
Center for Integrated Spatial Research, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorKate E. Langwig
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorJeffrey T. Foster
Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011 USA
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824 USA
Search for more papers by this authorKate E. Barlow
Bat Conservation Trust, Quadrant House, 250 Kennington Lane, London, SE11 5RD UK
Search for more papers by this authorTomáš Bartonička
Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, CZ 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
Search for more papers by this authorDan Feller
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Appalachian Laboratory, Wildlife and Heritage Service, 301 Braddock Rd., Frostburg, MD, 21532 USA
Search for more papers by this authorAnne-Jifke Haarsma
Department of Animal Ecology and Ecophysiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorCarl Herzog
Wildlife Diversity Unit, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY, 12233 USA
Search for more papers by this authorIvan Horáček
Department of Zoology, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ 128 44 Praha, Czech Republic
Search for more papers by this authorJeroen van der Kooij
Norwegian Zoological Society, PB 102 Blindern, 0314 Oslo, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorBart Mulkens
Vleermuizenwerkgroep Natuurpunt VZW, Coxiestraat 11, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorBoyan Petrov
National Museum of Natural History, Tsar Osvoboditel 1, Sofia, 1000 Bulgaria
Search for more papers by this authorRick Reynolds
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 517 Lee Highway, Verona, VA, 24482 USA
Search for more papers by this authorLuísa Rodrigues
Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Av. da República 16-16B, 1050-191 Lisboa, Portugal
Search for more papers by this authorCraig W. Stihler
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Section, Elkins, WV, 26241 USA
Search for more papers by this authorGregory G. Turner
Wildlife Diversity Division, Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2001 Emerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA, 16669 USA
Search for more papers by this authorA. Marm Kilpatrick
Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Aim
We investigated the effects of disease on the local abundances and distributions of species at continental scales by examining the impacts of white-nose syndrome, an infectious disease of hibernating bats, which has recently emerged in North America.
Location
North America and Europe.
Methods
We used four decades of population counts from 1108 populations to compare the local abundances of bats in North America before and after the emergence of white-nose syndrome to the situation in Europe, where the disease is endemic. We also examined the probability of local extinction for six species of hibernating bats in eastern North America and assessed the influence of winter colony size prior to the emergence of white-nose syndrome on the risk of local extinction.
Results
White-nose syndrome has caused a 10-fold decrease in the abundance of bats at hibernacula in North America, eliminating large differences in species abundance patterns that existed between Europe and North America prior to disease emergence. White-nose syndrome has also caused extensive local extinctions (up to 69% of sites in a single species). For five out of six species, the risk of local extinction was lower in larger winter populations, as expected from theory, but for the most affected species, the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), extinction risk was constant across winter colony sizes, demonstrating that disease can sometimes eliminate numerical rarity as the dominant driver of extinction risk by driving both small and large populations extinct.
Main conclusions
Species interactions, including disease, play an underappreciated role in macroecological patterns and influence broad patterns of species abundance, occurrence and extinction.
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| geb12290-sup-0001-si.doc509 KB | Figure S1 Phylogeny of European and North American bat species. Figure S2 Three methods used to estimate winter colony size in bat populations. Figure S3 Comparison of mean winter colony sizes for restricted and full datasets. Figure S4 Ecological variables associated with variation in winter colony size. Table S1 Ecological variables used in analysing local abundances. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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