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1 January 2011 WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME AND WING DAMAGE INDEX SCORES AMONG SUMMER BATS IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
Karen E. Francl, Dale W. Sparks, Virgil Brack, John Timpone
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Abstract

White-nose syndrome (WNS) adversely affects millions of bats hibernating in caves of the eastern United States. Beginning in 2009, the US Fish and Wildlife Service supported use of a wing damage index (WDI) scoring system (scale of 0 to 3, or no damage to severe) to assess wing damage of bats captured during summer. Based on bat captures at 459 mist net sites in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey, USA, we questioned whether WDI scores varied by species group, date, and distance to the closest known affected hibernaculum. We also compared relative health (body mass index [BMI] scores) to WDI scores. Of 3,419 bats (nine species), only four individuals (0.1%; little brown [Myotis lucifugus] and northern bats [Myotis septentrionalis]) were scored as a 3 and 47 (1.4%; big brown [Eptesicus fuscus], little brown, and northern bats) as a 2. All tree bats (eastern red [Lasiurus borealis], hoary [Lasiurus cinereus], and silver-haired bats [Lasionycteris noctivagans]) scored a 0 or 1, suggesting that these species were not affected by WNS. The average WDI score decreased as summer progressed, although trends were weak. Average WDI score and number of bats with class 2 and 3 damage increased with proximity to a known WNS-positive hibernaculum. Similarly, the number of bats with severe wing damage (scoring 2 or 3) was greater at sites closer to infected hibernacula, but little variance was explained by the trend. When species-specific BMI was examined, trends were consistent by sex (female BMI scores were higher than those of males), but no relationship was discovered between BMI and WDI scores. We conclude that, at this larger geographic scale, WDI is not a clear indicator of bat health.

Karen E. Francl, Dale W. Sparks, Virgil Brack, and John Timpone "WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME AND WING DAMAGE INDEX SCORES AMONG SUMMER BATS IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 47(1), 41-48, (1 January 2011). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-47.1.41
Received: 4 May 2010; Accepted: 1 October 2010; Published: 1 January 2011
KEYWORDS
bats
BODY MASS INDEX
disease
fungus
white-nose syndrome
wing damage index
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