Persist or Perish: Can Bats Threatened with Extinction Persist and Recover from White-nose Syndrome?

Abstract

Synopsis Emerging mycoses are an increasing concern in wildlife and human health. Given the historical rarity of fungal pathogens in warm-bodied vertebrates, there is a need to better understand how to manage mycoses and facilitate recovery in affected host populations. We explore challenges to host survival and mechanisms of host recovery in three bat species (Myotis lucifugus, Perimyotis subflavus, and M. septentrionalis) threatened with extinction by the mycosis, white-nose syndrome (WNS) as it continues to spread across North America. We present evidence from the literature that bats surviving WNS are exhibiting mechanisms of avoidance (by selecting microclimates within roosts) and tolerance (by increasing winter fat reserves), which may help avoid costs of immunopathology incurred by a maladaptive host resistance response. We discuss management actions for facilitating species recovery that take into consideration disease pressures (e.g., environmental reservoirs) and mechanisms underlying persistence, and suggest strategies that alleviate costs of immunopathology and target mechanisms of avoidance (protect or create refugia) and tolerance (increase body condition). We also propose strategies that target population and species-level recovery, including increasing reproductive success and reducing other stressors (e.g., wind turbine mortality). The rarity of fungal pathogens paired with the increasing frequency of emerging mycoses in warm-bodied vertebrate systems, including humans, requires a need to challenge common conventions about how diseases operate, how hosts respond, and how these systems could be managed to increase probability of recovery in host populations.