Fungus faulted in deaths of 1m bats

October 27, 2011|By Bloomberg News

NEW YORK - A fungus is at fault for the deaths of one million North American bats, according to a study that is the first to pinpoint the cause for a phenomenon that scientists say may spur agricultural losses of $3.7 billion a year.

The next question is how to attack it, said researchers at the US Geological Survey in Madison, Wis., who identified the Geomyces destructans fungus in a report yesterday in the journal Nature. The flying mammals eat as much as two-thirds of their own weight in bugs nightly, including mosquitoes, grasshoppers, locusts, and moths that can spread disease and devastate crops.

The finding “can help in the development of a strategy,’’ said David Blehert, a study author and a researcher at the geological survey in Madison, in a telephone interview.

A May 2010 report from the Fish and Wildlife Service identified the number of bats killed, and a study in the journal Science in April said the animal’s eating habits are worth about $74 an acre in helping farmers suppress pests.

The fungus caused the disorder known as white-nose syndrome.

Researchers have been chasing a cause for the killer illness since 2006 when it was first noted in a photograph taken in New York, said Blehert said.

Nine species are known to be affected, and some are threatened with extinction, the 2010 Fish and Wildlife report said.