Aim Emerging infectious diseases present a major perturbation with apparent direct effects such as reduced population density, extirpation and/or extinction. Comparatively less is known about the potential indirect effects of disease that likely alter community structure and larger ecosystem function. Since 2006, white‐nose syndrome (WNS) has resulted in the loss of over 6 million hibernating bats in eastern North America. Considerable evidence exists concerning niche partitioning in sympatric bat species in this region, and the unprecedented, rapid decline in multiple species following WNS may provide an opportunity to observe a dramatic restructuring of the bat community. Location We conducted our study at Fort Drum Army Installation in Jefferson and Lewis counties, New York, USA, where WNS first impacted extant bat species in winter 2007–2008. Methods Acoustical monitoring during 2003–2011 allowed us to test the hypothesis that spatial and temporal niche partitioning by bats was relaxed post‐WNS. Results We detected nine bat species pre‐ and post‐WNS. Activity for most bat species declined post‐WNS. Dramatic post‐WNS declines in activity of little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus, MYLU), formerly the most abundant bat species in the region, were associated with complex, often species‐specific responses by other species that generally favoured increased spatial and temporal overlap with MYLU. Main conclusions In addition to the obvious direct effects of disease on bat populations and activity levels, our results provide evidence that disease can have cascading indirect effects on community structure. Recent occurrence of WNS in North America, combined with multiple existing stressors, is resulting in dramatic shifts in temporal and spatial niche partitioning within bat communities. These changes might influence long‐term population viability of some bat species as well as broader scale ecosystem structure and function.

Using infrared video-surveillance systems during 1999-2000, we observed attempts by two individual Long-tailed Weasels (Mustela frenata) to depredate female Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and their clutch of eggs. Neither female was captured despite Long-tailed Weasel attacks on multiple nights, but all eggs from one nest were either consumed or cached over a two-night period. Although Long-tailed Weasels have been shown to return quickly to areas of abundant prey, return visit behavior to locations where weasels were unsuccessful or only partially successful are poorly described.Key Words: Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus, Long-tailed Weasel, Mustela frenata, nest predation, West Virginia.Most reports of Long-tailed Weasel feeding behaviors have been anecdotal observations (Criddle and Criddle 1925;Errington 1936; Quick 1944;Mumford 1969;Muths 1998), feeding experiments in a laboratory setting (Quick 1951;Byrne et al. 1978;DeVan 1982), or indirectly inferred from live-trapping and telemetry studies (DeVan 1982). Regardless of method, success rates and specific predatory behavior are lacking for Long-tailed Weasels, especially on groundnesting birds. Our objective was to document the frequency of Long-tailed Weasel depredation of Ruffed Grouse nests, describe weasel behaviors recorded at the nest, and determine the outcomes of any visit by weasels to these nests. Study and MethodsOur study was conducted at the Mead-Westvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest (MWERF) located in Randolph County, West Virginia (38°44' N, 79°58' W) from 1999-2000. Mead-Westvaco established the MWERF (3413 ha) in 1994 to study the impacts of industrial forestry on Appalachian ecosystems and ecological processes. Located in the unglaciated Allegheny Mountain and Plateau physiographic province, elevations range from 740 m to 1200 m. Most of the MWERF contained 60-80 year-old secondgrowth stands that have been subjected to repeated diameter-limit harvests over the past two decades. A detailed description of the study area is provided in Dobony (2000).During the nesting seasons (mid-April to early June) of 1999-2000, we used miniature infrared video cameras and time-lapse video recorder systems (Fuhrman Microcam2 camera + Fieldcam LCTLV time-lapse video recorder, Fuhrman Diversified, Seabrook, Texas) to monitor Ruffed Grouse nests (1999: n = 9; 2000: n = 11). Our video systems recorded continuously over 24 h using standard T-160 videocassettes, but at 3:1 ratios of real time to video time (i.e., an 8 h videocassette recorded 24 = h of activity). Cameras recorded black-and-white images and emitted infrared light at 950 nm, a wavelength not visible to vertebrate species (R. Fuhrman, Fuhrman Diversified, Inc., personal communication). Video cameras, including integrated infrared emitters, were housed within a 32 × 32 × 60 mm aluminum casing. Cameras were attached to an articulating clamp-arm that was used to secure them to substrate near nests. Cameras were mounted within 1 m of nests because infrared emitters only had an effective range...

the substantial decline of Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) in the southern Appalachian mountains has been attributed in part to poor recruitment with possible links to nesting ecology. however, despite extensive research, the incubation ecology of Ruffed Grouse remains poorly understood. during 1999-2001 in West Virginia, we used videography of nesting female Ruffed Grouse to (1) quantify incubation constancy (minutes on the nest/minutes recorded) and nest survival during incubation, (2) determine whether incubation constancy predicts hatch success (proportion of eggs hatched per clutch), (3) determine the effect of the onset of laying on incubation constancy and hatch success, and (4) quantify nest visitors and depredation. Females spent about 96% of the recorded time incubating their clutches. Average incubation time per day increased by 1 h between day 1 and day 24 of incubation. Females generally left their nests twice daily, once in the morning between 0700 and 1000 for 31.7 ± 2.4 minutes (standard error) and again in the evening between 1600 and 1800 for 33.6 ± 1.5 minutes. daily survival of nests (99.3 ± 0.4%) and nest survival for the incubation period (84.9 ± 9.3%) were high. hatch success (the proportion of eggs that hatched among nests where at least one hatched) was high: 94.9 ± 0.02%. We found no relation between incubation constancy and hatch success. We recorded American Black Bear (Ursus americanus), Raccoon (Procyon lotor), and longtailed Weasel (Mustela frenata) as nest predators.