| Report |
Publish Year |
Description |
Filename |
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Mitigating WNS - Using a Probiotic to Reduce Bat Mortality Caused by White-Nose Syndrome - 2019 Update on Testing
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2020
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A major challenge for treatment of white-nose syndrome (WNS; caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, Pd) in western North America (NA) is that hibernacula are poorly known, and bats are thought to largely use non-cave, non-mine underground winter refuges (Weller et al. 2018). Such conditions make it unfeasible to both access hibernacula and treat bats for WNS in large enough numbers to be effective. On the other hand, maternity roosts in human-built structures can hold thousands of female bats in a single roost making them biologically significant targets for protection Hundreds of roosts are already known and being continuously discovered across B.C. through blossoming community outreach and citizen science programs. Yuma (Myotis yumanensis) and Little Brown Myotis (M. lucifugus) in urbanized landscapes typically roost on non-natural substrates, which may reduce likelihood of naturally incorporating anti-Pd soil microbes into wing microbiomes. In a 3 year Development Phase (2017 - 2019), we developed the first WNS prophylaxis anti-Pd cocktail in North America, tested it on captive bats, and piloted in a field application.
Using bacteria sourced from local healthy bats, we derived a probiotic prophylaxis for the prevention of WNS, the fungal disease poised to devastate western North American bat populations. We successfully tested this probiotic on captive building- roosting bats, and concluded that it is effective at changing bat wing microbiomes, and slowing the growth of the Pd fungus. In 2019 we completed a final comprehensive captive trial including a summer component and a hibernation simulation. We also piloted the application of the probiotic in the field; this small-scale field implementation took place at two maternity roosts in the Vancouver region.
The premise of our mitigation strategy is that bats incorporate naturally-occurring anti-Pd bacteria into their wing microflora prior to leaving for hibernation in late summer. We hypoth ?
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wsi_5856_rpt_2019.pdf
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Mitigating WNS Testing use of a Probiotic to Reduce Bat Mortality Caused by White-Nose Syndrome - 2021 Update
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2021
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The goal of the Probiotic Project is to develop and test (in captive and wild trials) a cocktail of bacteria sourced from wings of B.C. bats which inhibits the fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans, Pd) that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats. Specific to the West, where few bat hibernacula are known, but many maternity roosts are known for building roosting species, our project aimed to take a prophylaxis approach; the strategy is that bats will be passively inoculated at their summer roosts, incorporate the probiotic bacteria into their wing microbiomes and then travel to hibernacula where the probiotic inhibit or slow growth of Pd, slowing or preventing the progression of WNS and reducing overwinter mortality.
In 2021, we swabbed field roosting substrates in February and are testing for presence of probiotic (lab results pending). We will opportunistically sample wings of bats returning to roosts in spring to look for probiotic and Pd; collect guano for Pd surveillance; PIT-tag additional bats at all study sites (there is currently disparate percentage of PIT tagged bats among sites); apply probiotic (mid to late summer); sample bat wings and roosting substrates prior to hibernation; install acoustic detectors to determine if bats are found in study areas in winter; sample roosting substrates at end of the 2021-22 winter (including building and bat box substrates). Our laboratory goals in 2021 will be to improve amplification of the 4th probiotic bacteria (P. antarctica); improve our sampling procedures given that swab sampling may result in higher than desired variance in cell concentration measurements; and improve our methodology for assessing the viability of probiotic cells in samples from bat wings and from roost substrates.
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wsi_6010_rpt_2021Probiotic.pdf
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North American Bat Monitoring Program in British Columbia - 2020 Data Summary and Preliminary Trend Analyses (2016 - 2020)
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2021
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The North American Bat Monitoring (NABat; Loeb et al. 2015) program is a multi-agency initiative administered by the US Geological Survey (USGS). It is designed to increase baseline monitoring at the national and continental scale. NABat aims to collect critical baseline data to inform conservation and management decisions on immediate and long-term time scales and a variety of spatial scales. Since 2016, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada has coordinated and implemented the program in British Columbia, through partnerships and engagements with bat biologists and naturalists across the province. Establishing a baseline is especially critical at this time, in advance of the arrival of white-nose syndrome (WNS) -- the deadly fungal disease that has been decimating hibernating bat populations as it spreads from the point of initial discovery in New York State and from a secondary point introduction in Washington State. In this report we describe the NABat monitoring program and summarize the NABat data in BC.
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wsi_6010_rpt_2020NABat.pdf
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Year-round roost selection and thermoregulation of Silver-haired Bats in Smallwood-Garrity Area, Kootenay Lake
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2021
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Silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are a tree roosting species of insectivorous bat found throughout North America. They belong to the guild of cavity-dwelling species, and as such, they are especially dependent on the presence of snags (standing dead trees) and large, mature trees, which generally have more roosting opportunities than smaller, younger trees. This species has long been thought to be migratory in much of its range. However, captures and visual and acoustic observations of this species have been recorded throughout winter at numerous locations in British Columbia, and this has begun to shift our perspective on its migratory strategies. The objectives of this project are to 1) investigate characteristics of the tree roosts used in winter and summer, including roost microclimates; 2) describe the surrounding forest landscape to characterize roosting habitats in both summer and winter; 3) quantify use of torpor; 4) determine the suitability of BrandenBark as a habitat compensation tool and whether this would provide year-round habitat replacement for this tree-roosting species.
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wsi_6010_rpt_2021SilverHairedBats.pdf
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| Field Data |
Publish Year |
Description |
Filename |
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Point data for the 2020 survey formatted for entry into SPI
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wsi_6010_dct_2020.xlsm
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