Body mass and hibernation microclimate may predict bat susceptibility to white-nose syndrome.

ABSTRACT: In multihost disease systems, differences in mortality between species may reflect variation in host physiology, morphology, and behavior. In systems where the pathogen can persist in the environment, microclimate conditions, and the adaptation of the host to these conditions, may also impact mortality. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging disease of hibernating bats caused by an environmentally persistent fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans. We assessed the effects of body mass, torpid metabolic rate, evaporative water loss, and hibernaculum temperature and water vapor deficit on predicted overwinter survival of bats infected by P. destructans. We used a hibernation energetics model in an individual-based model framework to predict the probability of survival of nine ba

SUBMITTER: Haase CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7790633 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature