BackgroundWhite-nose syndrome is a disease of hibernating insectivorous bats associated with the fungus Geomyces destructans. It first appeared in North America in 2006, where over a million bats died since then. In Europe, G. destructans was first identified in France in 2009. Its distribution, infection dynamics, and effects on hibernating bats in Europe are largely unknown.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe screened hibernacula in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for the presence of the fungus during the winter seasons of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. In winter 2009/2010, we found infected bats in 76 out of 98 surveyed sites, in which the majority had been previously negative. A photographic record of over 6000 hibernating bats, taken since 1994, revealed bats with fungal growths since 1995; however, the incidence of such bats increased in Myotis myotis from 2% in 2007 to 14% by 2010. Microscopic, cultivation and molecular genetic evaluations confirmed the identity of the recently sampled fungus as G. destructans, and demonstrated its continuous distribution in the studied area. At the end of the hibernation season we recorded pathologic changes in the skin of the affected bats, from which the fungus was isolated. We registered no mass mortality caused by the fungus, and the recorded population decline in the last two years of the most affected species, M. myotis, is within the population trend prediction interval.Conclusions/Significance
G. destructans was found to be widespread in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with an epizootic incidence in bats during the most recent years. Further development of the situation urgently requires a detailed pan-European monitoring scheme.
Savi's pipistrelle Hypsugo savii is a Mediterranean faunal element among the bats; it occurs in southern Europe, the Canary Islands, north‐western Africa, most of the Mediterranean islands, in the northern part of the Middle East, in the Crimea, Caucasus, West Turkestan, and northern Afghanistan. The northern margin of its geographical range in Europe reaches the Pyrenees, Massif Central, southern Alps, Dalmatia, Balkan Mountains and southern Crimea, like that of other similar biogeographical elements.
Since the 1990s, Hypsugo savii started to be found in inland areas of south‐eastern Europe and in Central Europe as far northwards as in central Bohemia and southern Poland. These numerous new occurrences seem to be either 1) connected to environmental changes caused by the current climate change; 2) evidence of an intrinsic expansion process powered by the species' synanthropic tendency, including passive human‐mediated transport; or 3) a reflection of the increase in field survey efforts.
Distributional data on Hypsugo savii from central and south‐eastern parts of Europe were gathered and evaluated.
We provide a detailed review of all records available by the end of 2013. The assessment of temporal distribution of the data clearly shows an ongoing and relatively fast expansion of Hypsugo savii from southern to Central Europe, which represents a shift of almost 800 km northwards in the last 20–25 years.
Most of the records (65%) originate from urban habitats. This suggests that the synanthropic habits of the species are the most plausible explanation for the northwards shift of the range limits of Hypsugo savii.
The paper describes macro-and micromorphological features of Geomyces destructans, the fungus which is associated with the white-nose syndrome (WNS) bat disease in North America. This species was isolated from hibernating Myotis myotis at two sites in Malé Karpaty Mts (the old mine Pod medveďou skalou and the Zbojnícka Cave) in Western Slovakia. Besides Geomyces destructans, the species Isaria farinosa, Cladosporium macrocarpum and Alternaria tenuissima were isolated, too. All strains are deposed at the Department of Soil Science, Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia) and in CMF at Institute of Soil Biology in České Budějovice (Czech Republic).
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