Context dependency of disease-mediated competitive release in bat assemblages following white-nose syndrome

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dc.contributor.authorBombaci, Sara P.en
dc.contributor.authorRussell, Robin E.en
dc.contributor.authorSt Germain, Michael J.en
dc.contributor.authorDobony, Christopher A.en
dc.contributor.authorFord, W. Marken
dc.contributor.authorLoeb, Susan C.en
dc.contributor.authorJachowski, David S.en
dc.date.accessioned2021-12-14T14:07:55Zen
dc.date.available2021-12-14T14:07:55Zen
dc.date.issued2021-11en
dc.description.abstractWhite-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused dramatic declines of several cave-hibernating bat species in North America since 2006, which has increased the activity of non-susceptible species in some geographic areas or during times of night formerly occupied by susceptible species-indicative of disease-mediated competitive release (DMCR). Yet, this pattern has not been evaluated across multiple bat assemblages simultaneously or across multiple years since WNS onset. We evaluated whether WNS altered spatial and temporal niche partitioning in bat assemblages at four locations in the eastern United States using long-term datasets of bat acoustic activity collected before and after WNS arrival. Activity of WNS-susceptible bat species decreased by 79-98% from pre-WNS levels across the four study locations, but only one of our four study sites provided strong evidence supporting the DMCR hypothesis in bats post-WNS. These results suggest that DMCR is likely dependent on the relative difference in activity by susceptible and non-susceptible species groups pre-WNS and the relative decline of susceptible species post-WNS allowing for competitive release, as well as the amount of time that had elapsed post-WNS. Our findings challenge the generality of WNS-mediated competitive release between susceptible and non-susceptible species and further highlight declining activity of some non-susceptible species, especially Lasiurus borealis, across three of four locations in the eastern United States. These results underscore the broader need for conservation efforts to address the multiple potential interacting drivers of bat declines on both WNS-susceptible and non-susceptible species.en
dc.description.notesFunding for this study was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service White-nose Syndrome Grant Program Agreement #4500900398 to the U.S. Geological Survey South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Additional support came from Fort Drum through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cooperative Agreement W9126G-15-2-0005 and the Southern Appalachian Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit Program to the Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation. We thank P. White and the Wisconsin DNR for providing long-term acoustic data from Wisconsin. Fieldwork assistance was provided by L. Coleman, T. Nocera, J. Rodrigue, A. Silvis, and C. Whitman. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. All authors conceived the ideas and designed methodology; Robin Russell, Michael St. Germain, Chris Dobony, Mark Ford, Susan Loeb, and David Jachowski collected the data; Sara Bombaci and Robin Russell analyzed the data; Sara Bombaci and David Jachowski led the writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.en
dc.description.sponsorshipU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service White-nose Syndrome Grant Program [4500900398]; Fort Drum through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cooperative Agreement [W9126G-15-2-0005]; Southern Appalachian Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit Programen
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3825en
dc.identifier.issn2150-8925en
dc.identifier.issue11en
dc.identifier.othere03825en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/106967en
dc.identifier.volume12en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectbat communitiesen
dc.subjectcompetitionen
dc.subjectcompetitive releaseen
dc.subjectdisease ecologyen
dc.subjectniche partitioningen
dc.subjectNorth American batsen
dc.subjectPseudogymnoascus destructansen
dc.subjectwhite-nose syndromeen
dc.titleContext dependency of disease-mediated competitive release in bat assemblages following white-nose syndromeen
dc.title.serialEcosphereen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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