Yesterday I had planned to write about something having to
do with garden design for “philosophy Friday”, but two pieces of breaking
news took precedence. Fortunately and unfortunately, neither was an April Fools
joke.
The good news is that it was officially announced that Bat,
the fragrance I made for Zoologist Perfumes, is a finalist for the Institute ofArt and Olfaction Award! This is especially exciting because it was one of my all-time
favorite projects.
The bad news is that there was a news article announcing
that, for the first time, a bat with white nose syndrome was found on the West
Coast, in Washington State. Of course I’m thrilled about Bat being a finalist
for the prestigious IAO Award, but at the same time I’m deeply disturbed and
saddened to hear that the fungal infection that has killed thousands of bats
east of the Rockies has now spread to the West.
It seems that the fungus that infects the bats is normally
and ubiquitously present in the ecosystem in many parts of the world, and has
always been around. Only within relatively recent times, though, have an
increasing number of bat populations in North America been sickened and killed by it.
Most discussion on white nose syndrome seems to focus on
keeping the public out of caves with hibernating bat colonies (a good idea!), creating
captive breeding colonies that are free of the fungus in the hope that they can
one day be released into a “clean” environment,
controlling the fungus itself, diagnosis of the disease, and/or treating
existing infections. The prevailing theory seems to be that bats in the US have
no resistance to an organism imported from Europe, reminiscent of the mass
deaths of indigenous Americans from European diseases like smallpox several
centuries ago. However, an additional underlying question is whether bats might have
suddenly become susceptible to pathological infection by a benign organism that
has been present in their environment for a considerable amount of time.
I can think of a whole host of factors that could affect the
physiological state of bats, all of them ultimately traceable to human
activity. There’s mass destruction of habitat by developers, widespread
spraying of pesticides that may accumulate in the fat stores of hibernating
bats and, of course, climate change. With warmer winters, it is possible that hibernation
is disrupted, resulting in premature use of stored energy and near-starvation.
Although the fungus thought to be responsible for white nose syndrome grows
best in cold temperatures, warmer winters might optimize the temperature range
of caves and promote growth of the fungus to the point where it overwhelms the
bats’ immune systems.
Obviously these global factors, including the unprecedented
rapid worldwide distribution of all human, plant, and animal diseases, are not
easy to fix, especially given how far down the slippery slope the world has
already slid, so it’s tempting for people to focus on treating symptoms and
hoping that natural selection kicks in soon, creating bat strains that are
resistant to infection. However, bats do not reproduce fast and many species need to live in large groups, so such a narrow
and short-sighted strategy may not meet with success in the long run,
especially if bat colonies are decimated to the point of unsustainability.
[Photos are from Wikimedia; bat and moon print by Biho Takashi ca 1910]
Posts
I was so sorry to read this news, too. I remember the magnificent urban bat colonies of Austin, Texas very well. Sadly, we are far down the slippery slope, as you say, and it's hard to know what to do at this point....
ReplyDeleteMarla, I also remember the urban bat colonies under the bridge in Austin - they're a big tourist attraction. It is indeed hard to know what to do at this point on the slippery slope. People don't like to think about it.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the good news, Ellen!
ReplyDeleteAnd we all should be very concerned about the bad news. It may not be possible to do anything for the bats at this stage - except for trying to limit the development that compromises their habitat and banning many pesticides. I find it hard to believe that we can't even figure out that neonicotinoids are killing our bees and who knows what else! Also..It never ceases to amaze me when I see a "save the bees" or "save the whales" or whatever sticker plastered to the bumper of a mini-van driven by a cute young mommy with five little children in tow. There are just too many people out here in the burbs (and in the big city too) who think that their breeding habits have no impact on he planet!
Azar
Azar, you hit the bullseye on this one. Humans' irresponsible breeding habits are the major reason why the world is so messed up. No one wants to bring up this inconvenient and non-PC fact.
ReplyDelete