Journal ArticleDOI
Staying cold through dinner: cold-climate bats rewarm with conspecifics but not sunset during hibernation
TLDR
Temperature telemetry was used to monitor skin temperature of free-ranging little brown bats hibernating in central Manitoba, Canada, and found no evidence bats synchronized arousals with photoperiod but they did arouse synchronously with other bats in the same cluster.Abstract:
For temperate endotherms (i.e., mammals and birds) energy costs are highest during winter but food availability is lowest and many mammals depend on hibernation as a result. Hibernation is made up of energy-saving torpor bouts [periods of controlled reduction in body temperature (T b)], which are interrupted by brief periodic arousals to normothermic T b. What triggers these arousals in free-ranging hibernators is not well understood. Some temperate bats with intermittent access to flying insects during winter synchronize arousals with sunset, which suggests that, in some species, feeding opportunities influence arousal timing. We tested whether hibernating bats from a cold climate without access to food during winter also maintain a circadian rhythm for arousals or whether cues from conspecifics in the same cluster are more important. We used temperature telemetry to monitor skin temperature (T sk) of free-ranging little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) hibernating in central Manitoba, Canada, where temperatures from 22 October to 22 March were too cold for flying insects. We found no evidence bats synchronized arousals with photoperiod but they did arouse synchronously with other bats in the same cluster. Thus, in the northern part of their range where flying insects are almost never available during winter, little brown bats exhibit no circadian pattern to arousals. Warming synchronously with others could reduce the energetic costs of arousal for individuals or could reflect disturbance of torpid bats by cluster-mates.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Enrichment of beneficial bacteria in the skin microbiota of bats persisting with white-nose syndrome
TL;DR: The results are consistent with the hypothesis that Pd invasion leads to a shift in the skin microbiota of surviving bats and suggest the possibility that the microbiota plays a protective role for bats facing WNS.
Journal ArticleDOI
The importance of temporal heterothermy in bats
TL;DR: The importance and evolution of heterothermy in bats is summarized to understand the ecology and physiology of torpor in this largely understudied and cryptic mammalian group.
Journal ArticleDOI
Second generation sequencing and morphological faecal analysis reveal unexpected foraging behaviour by Myotis nattereri (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in winter
Paul R. Hope,Kristine Bohmann,Kristine Bohmann,M. Thomas P. Gilbert,Marie Lisandra Zepeda-Mendoza,Orly Razgour,Gareth Jones +6 more
TL;DR: The winter diet of Natterer's bat (Myotis nattereri) is substantially different from other times of the year confirming that this species has a wide and adaptable dietary niche.
Journal ArticleDOI
First Direct Evidence of Long-distance Seasonal Movements and Hibernation in a Migratory Bat
Theodore J. Weller,Kevin T. Castle,Felix Liechti,Cris D. Hein,Michael R. Schirmacher,Paul M. Cryan +5 more
TL;DR: These first uses of miniature tags on small bats allowed us to discover that male hoary bats can make multi-directional movements during the migratory season and sometimes hibernate for an entire winter.
Journal ArticleDOI
Winter behavior of bats and the progression of white-nose syndrome in the southeastern United States.
TL;DR: It was determined that bats in the southeastern United States were active during winter regardless of disease, and winter activity was driven by both ambient temperature and the presence of P. destructans.
References
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Journal Article
R: A language and environment for statistical computing.
TL;DR: Copyright (©) 1999–2012 R Foundation for Statistical Computing; permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Journal ArticleDOI
Metabolic Rate and Body Temperature Reduction During Hibernation and Daily Torpor
TL;DR: The comparative analysis provided here suggests that MR reduction depends on patterns of torpor used, the state of tor porpor, and body mass, which in turn affects metabolic inhibition and energy conservation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?
David S. Blehert,Alan C. Hicks,Melissa Behr,Carol U. Meteyer,Brenda M. Berlowski-Zier,Elizabeth L. Buckles,Jeremy T. H. Coleman,Scott R. Darling,Andrea Gargas,Robyn Niver,Joseph C. Okoniewski,Robert J. Rudd,Ward B. Stone +12 more
TL;DR: Direct microscopy and culture analyses demonstrated that the skin of WNS-affected bats is colonized by a psychro-philic fungus that is phylogenetically related to Geomyces spp.
Journal ArticleDOI
Load Carrying and Maneuverability in an Insectivorous Bat: a Test of the 5% “Rule” of Radio-Telemetry
Journal ArticleDOI
Experimental infection of bats with Geomyces destructans causes white-nose syndrome
Jeffrey M. Lorch,Carol U. Meteyer,Melissa Behr,Justin G. Boyles,Paul M. Cryan,Alan C. Hicks,Anne Ballmann,Jeremy T. H. Coleman,David N. Redell,DeeAnn M. Reeder,David S. Blehert +10 more
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that exposure of healthy little brown bats to pure cultures of G. destructans causes white-nose syndrome and that the recent emergence of WNS in North America may represent translocation of the fungus to a region with a naive population of animals.