2021 journal article

Continued preference for suboptimal habitat reduces bat survival with white-nose syndrome

Nature Communications, 12(1), 166.

By: S. Hopkins*, J. Hoyt*, J. White*, H. Kaarakka*, J. Redell*, J. DePue*, W. Scullon*, A. Kilpatrick*, K. Langwig*

MeSH headings : Animal Diseases / microbiology; Animal Diseases / mortality; Animals; Ascomycota; Chiroptera / microbiology; Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecosystem; Fungi / pathogenicity; Michigan; Nose; Population Dynamics; Survival; Temperature; Wisconsin
TL;DR: It is shown that bats have not altered their microclimate preferences due to temperature-mediated mortality from white-nose syndrome, finding instead a sustained preference for warmer sites with high mortality, demonstrating that host preferences for habitats with high disease-induced mortality can create ecological traps that threaten populations, even in the presence of accessible refugia. (via Semantic Scholar)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: April 19, 2021

Abstract