Researchers with Saint Mary’s University in Halifax are looking for bat colonies in Centre Rawdon.
Hugh Broders’ graduate lab is searching for answers that will shed some light on patterns of bat movement in a time when the rise of white-nose syndrome is threatening the survival of cave-dwelling bats throughout North America.
“Centre Rawdon is an area where we’ve been doing some fairly intensive work for a number of years,” said Broders in a phone interview.
“What we are trying to do is find maternity colonies of bats in that area and see if we can link up where bats spend the summer, and where they spend the winter.”
Broders, a biology professor, says researching the movement of bats in Nova Scotia could reveal how fast white-nose syndrome is being transmitted, and where it is spreading.
“The disease is impacting many different species of bats and certainly all of the species that we have… here in Nova Scotia,” he said, noting that a case was found in Brooklyn.
“We currently don’t have a good enough understanding of the dynamics of how bats move, so it’s not really easy to predict how the fungus is going to spread from place to place.”
White-nose syndrome was first discovered in New York state during the winter of 2005.
Broders said the species of bats commonly found in Nova Scotia are all at risk of being killed off if they are exposed to the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome.
“All three of these species are highly vulnerable to white-nose syndrome and, if current trends continue, we expect to lose most of the individuals of each of those three species,” he said.
Essentially, Broders explained, white-nose syndrome causes a bat to starve to death by forcing the animal to wake, and burn excess energy, when it is supposed to be in hibernation.
A healthy hibernating bat can live with two to three grams of fat as a fuel reserve in a cool environment until May.
“We currently don’t have a good enough understanding of the dynamics of how bats move, so it’s not really easy to predict how the fungus is going to spread from place to place.” - Hugh Broders, biology professor
“When bats get infected with the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, we believe that fungus causes them to wake up,” Broders said.
“As they wake up they have to fuel the increase in body temperature and they burn energy.”
The excess awake time burns away at the fuel reserve by January, February or March, when there are little to no insects to eat, Broders said.
He says the decimation of the bat population would prove to be a major loss to the biodiversity in any area affected by the disease.
“We have recorded this fungus in Nova Scotia now and I expect that in the next 12 to 14 months, we’re going to be finding hibernation sites in Nova Scotia that are infected with white-nose syndrome, and based on what others have found in other areas, we can expect that a large portion of those animals are going to die within the next couple years.”
He says people should stay out of places where bats try to hibernate in the winter, such as caves and mines, to avoid creating an unnecessary disturbance that would interrupt the natural hibernation process.
“A paper came out about a month ago that estimated the economic value of bats to the agricultural industry of the United States and, conservatively, those authors estimated that bats provide something in the range of $23 billion annually of service to the agricultural industry.”
Broders recommends reporting dead bats, and sightings of bats flying in broad daylight throughout the winter months, to the Department of Natural Resources.
In the summer, the little brown bat commonly uses warm attics, sheds, tin roofs and barn-like structures to raise young.
Broders’ lab is asking individuals with information about the location of buildings, in Centre Rawdon, where more than five bats can be seen at dusk to call (902) 498-8668 ext. 2974.
