2011
DOI: 10.1093/icb/icr076
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Evaporative Water Loss Is a Plausible Explanation for Mortality of Bats from White-Nose Syndrome

Abstract: White-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused alarming declines of North American bat populations in the 5 years since its discovery. Affected bats appear to starve during hibernation, possibly because of disruption of normal cycles of torpor and arousal. The importance of hydration state and evaporative water loss (EWL) for influencing the duration of torpor bouts in hibernating mammals recently led to "the dehydration hypothesis," that cutaneous infection of the wing membranes of bats with the fungus Geomyces destruc… Show more

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Cited by 111 publications
(83 citation statements)
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“…The fungal infection appears to cause increased frequency of arousal (Warnecke et al, 2012), which, in turn, is associated with premature depletion of fat reserves and subsequent death of hibernating bats (Boyles and Willis, 2010;Storm and Boyles, 2011). Others hypothesize dehydration contributes to mortality (Cryan et al, 2010;Willis et al, 2011). Regardless of mechanism, loss of hibernating bat populations exposed to G. destructans often exceeds 75% (Frick et al, 2010;Turner et al, 2011).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The fungal infection appears to cause increased frequency of arousal (Warnecke et al, 2012), which, in turn, is associated with premature depletion of fat reserves and subsequent death of hibernating bats (Boyles and Willis, 2010;Storm and Boyles, 2011). Others hypothesize dehydration contributes to mortality (Cryan et al, 2010;Willis et al, 2011). Regardless of mechanism, loss of hibernating bat populations exposed to G. destructans often exceeds 75% (Frick et al, 2010;Turner et al, 2011).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Because of their disproportionally large surface area, bat wings play important roles in maintaining physiologic homeostasis, and may be particularly important during hibernation (Cryan et al, 2010). Wings are the primary site of infection by G. destructans, and complications associated with dehydration and electrolyte imbalance caused by fungal damage to wing skin may contribute to morbidity and mortality from infection Cryan et al, 2010;Willis et al, 2011). In the course of examining blood and urine from hibernating bats in the context of WNS, we observed evidence for possible life-threatening electrolyte depletion.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Dehydration resulting from fungal damage to skin is hypothesized to cause WNS bats to drink more during winter (Cryan et al, 2010;Willis et al, 2011), and possibly cause the more frequent arousals from hibernation associated with WNS mortality (Reeder et al, 2012;Warnecke et al, 2012). Although bats regularly arouse from hibernation to drink, water available in hibernacula may not contain sufficient electrolytes to offset winter losses.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Even without causing mass mortality of bats in Europe, it is likely that P. destructans may increase the probability of death of infected bats, mainly injured or the most exhausted individuals at the end of hibernation, possibly as a result of an increased frequency of arousals and the resulting depletion of body fat reserves. More frequent arousals are suggested to be associated with increased evaporative water loss [12]. However, it seems doubtful that this may be a reason in hibernacula with extremely high relative air humidity (e.g.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) probably triggers or contributes to that damage, as hibernation is associated with immune suppression, while return to euthermia results in its rapid reversal [11]. Bats infected with P. destructans probably face severe evaporative water loss, thus increased frequency of arousal from hibernation, with the animals often flying out of their roost, rapidly depleting their subcutaneous fat reserves and consequently dying of starvation [12,13]. WNS spreads rapidly during the first years after its appearance, leading to population collapse, even in the common and widespread species Myotis lucifugus, that lost 30-99% of individuals spending winter in large bat hibernacula in the eastern part of USA [14].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%