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Title: New York Bats Dying In Droves Post by torporchair on Mar 25th, 2008, 4:24am http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/science/25bats.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin Jeez. Could this be a natural cycle like the gypsy moths killing large numbers of trees and this is a natural phenomenon- some kind of devastating parasite or something killing off the bats- or is this the canary in a coal mine meaning that-- WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE because too much Styrofoam has been drunk by too many humans? Years ago, in the nineties, there was a story that ran on one of the big news services, I forget which one, about how frogs and toads around the world were mysteriously dying. Some took this as the canary in a coal mine at that time, and I haven’t heard anything about it since, did the frogs wax resurgent or has the story simply lost it's new-worthiness in a world where Emus menace hikers? |
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Title: Re: New York Bats Dying In Droves Post by mitakeet on Mar 25th, 2008, 11:44am As you say, it could be part of a natural cycle, but it seems to me that the 'natural' number of bats would be in the millions, not thousands, so the idea that they have bred themselves to the point they are overharvesting their prey (insects) sounds implausible to me. However, given that humans have such huge impact on other species; it is possible that we have triggered a crash in a few key species of insects that has lead to a relative oversupply of bats, leading to starvation which then leads to the fungus infection. Look at any immune compromised individual (or population) and you see all sorts of strange diseases that are generally totally absent from the healthy population. Kinda scary! |
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Title: Re: New York Bats Dying In Droves Post by torporchair on Oct 20th, 2008, 10:54pm More Bats Equals Less Pesticides! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/nyregion/new-jersey/05batsnj.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |
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