This repository contains code and data needed to reproduce the article:
Wu N. C., Welbergen J. A., Villada-Cadavid, T., Lumsden, L. F., & Turbill C. (In review) Threat of white-nose syndrome to naive southern hemisphere bats: a global assessment of cave thermal conditions and fungal host specificity.
Raw data
bat_comp_data.csv- Raw data used for the analysis.hibernation_study.csv- Data used for comparing hibernation studies between the northern and southern hemisphere.- shp - Contains shape files from the World Karst Aquifer Map.
R code
bat_comp_analysis_final.R- Data cleaning, analysis and figure production.
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease affecting hibernating bats, caused by the fungal pathogen, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). Since the initial introduction of Pd from Eurasia to the United States in 2006, WNS has killed millions of bats throughout the cooler parts of North America. There is concern that if Pd is accidentally introduced to the southern hemisphere, WNS could pose similar threats to the bat fauna of the southern hemisphere’s cooler regions. Efforts are required to better understand the vulnerability of bats globally to WNS, despite the difficulties imposed by a lack of knowledge about winter hibernation for bats in most regions. Here, we examined whether phylogenetic distance affects the probability of infection by Pd and predicted thermal habitat suitability of Pd for 441 cave-roosting bat species across the globe. Using host specificity models based on 65 species that have been tested for Pd, we found that phylogenetic distance was not an important predictor of Pd infection, confirming that Pd has low host specificity. Mapping of cave depth-adjusted temperature revealed extensive areas in the southern hemisphere where cave-roosting bat species could occupy caves that are thermally suitable for Pd growth. Hence, if Pd spreads to the southern hemisphere, the risk of exposure is widespread for cave-roosting bats, and infection is possible regardless of relatedness to infected species in the northern hemisphere. While predicting the consequences of infection remains difficult due to lack of species-specific information about bat winter biology, the potential for widespread exposure to Pd indicates that WNS is an important threat to naïve southern hemisphere bat populations. Hence, we urge for biosecurity measures and planning of management responses that can help prevent or minimise a potential WNS outbreak in the southern hemisphere.
Keywords: Chiroptera, hibernation, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, disease, vulnerability ecological naivety.
This repository is provided by the authors under the MIT License (MIT).