Abstract:
Populations of hibernating bats in the northeastern
USA are being decimated by white-nose syndrome (WNS).
Although the ultimate cause of death is unknown, one
possibility is the premature depletion of fat reserves. The
immune system is suppressed during hibernation. Although
an elevated body temperature (Tb) may facilitate an immune
response, it also accelerates the depletion of fat stores. We
sought to determine if little brown bats Myotis lucifugus Le
Conte 1831 hibernating in WNS-affected hibernacula have
an elevated Tb and reduced fat stores, relative to WNSunaffected
Indiana bats Myotis sodalis Miller and Allen 1928
from Indiana. We found that WNS-affected M. lucifugus
maintain a slightly, but significantly, higher skin temperature
(Tskin), relative to surrounding rock temperature, than do M.
sodalis from Indiana. We also report that WNS-affected M.
lucifugus weigh significantly less than M. lucifugus from a
hibernaculum outside of the WNS region. However, the
difference in Tskin is minimal and we argue that the elevated
Tb is unlikely to explain the emaciation documented in
WNS-affected bats.
