By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

FRANKFORT, Ky. — If asked what is one of the more beneficial animals to agriculture, most people would probably never think of bats. Seen by many as scary little creatures, farmers see them as a natural pesticide.

Bats consume so many insects that, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the country’s agriculture industry saves at least $3 billion each year in pest control services. But bat populations are decreasing at an alarming rate, mostly because of a disease known as White-Nose Syndrome (WNS).

Since 2006, the disease has made its way from the Northeast, moving further south and west. It was recently discovered in Trigg County in western Kentucky. The discovery brings the total number of states known to have WNS to 16 and so far, an estimated one million cave-dwelling bats or more have died as result of the disease.

State officials aren’t taking the news lightly, knowing how important bats are to the environment. “This is likely the most significant disease threat to wildlife Kentucky has ever seen,” said Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Dr. Jonathan Gassett.

“It would be professionally irresponsible to take no action to stop or slow this disease. Bats are an important part of our natural environment, acting as pollinators and consuming mosquitoes and other insect pests across the landscape. We plan to aggressively manage this threat as it occurs in Kentucky in order to protect and conserve our bat populations.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports WNS is associated with a fungus that occurs in cold, humid areas such as caves and is identified by white fungal material found on infected bats. It is thought to be transmitted from bat to bat, but can be spread by humans on their clothing.

Thomas Kunz, professor of biology and director for the Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology at Boston University, co-authored an analysis recently published in Science magazine of just how valuable these small mammals are, especially when it comes to agriculture.

He said WNS is killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of bats and is spreading as far south as North Carolina and as far west as Missouri and Oklahoma. In fact, Kentucky has sort of been skipped over until now as most surrounding states have detected WNS.

“Most of the mortality associated with WNS has been in the Northeast, New England, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” he said. “But as with most diseases, in any kind of epidemic phenomenon, it takes a couple of years for it to build up sufficiently enough to start causing massive mortality.”

Kunz added that bats have never had good press, looked upon as being ugly, vile and disease carriers. But the report he co-wrote was aimed at conveying to the public and decision-makers the value bats provide to ecosystems.

In the research, Kunz noted one million bats over a period of 180 days would eat a minimum of 660 metric tons of insects to an upward level of about 1,200 metric tons in one year – a substantial number that would otherwise account for losses to agriculture. That could equate into a range of $3.7 billion up to $53  billion on a continent-wide basis, as what farmers would have to add to their budgets to apply more pesticides, to make up for bat losses on that level.

“Even though there is a monetary value associated with purchasing and applying pesticides, what is the downstream affect on water quality and soil quality and other things we know pesticides have created over the years?
Those weren’t even factored into our estimate,” he said.

Kunz also said with the kinds of losses the disease seems to be producing thus far, there is no way the animals can reproduce fast enough to make up for that because female bats may produce one offspring a year.

“The recovery, if at all, will take, I would say, decades to hundreds of years to get back to the million bats we’ve lost in the Northeast. It’s a pretty dire prediction,” he said.

Kunz noted other research shows the possibly of regional extinction of the little brown bat, which is most affected by WNS, in the Northeast within 16 years. While it may be too early to forecast those kinds of consequences here, Kentucky officials have been on the offensive even before the discovery, with the Kentucky WNS Response Plan developed in 2009.

Measures are being taken to get a handle on the situation, including checking caves within a 16-mile radius of the privately-owned cave where WNS was detected. Those measures include removing and euthanizing 60 highly suspect little brown and tri-colored bats, as they were not expected to survive, according to information provided by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.