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Emerging infectious diseases threaten wildlife globally. While the effects of infectious diseases on hosts with severe infections and high mortality rates often receive considerable attention, effects on hosts that persist despite infection are less frequently studied. To understand how persisting host populations change in the face of disease, we quantified changes to the capture rates of Eptesicus fuscus (big brown bats), a persisting species susceptible to infection by the invasive fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd; causative agent for white‐nose syndrome), across the eastern US using a 30‐year dataset. Capture rates of male and female E. fuscus increased from preinvasion to pathogen establishment years, with greater increases to the capture rates of females than males. Among females, capture rates of pregnant and post‐lactating females increased by pathogen establishment. We outline potential mechanisms for these broad demographic changes in E. fuscus capture rates (i.e., increases to foraging from energy deficits created by Pd infection, increases to relative abundance, or changes to reproductive cycles), and suggest future research for identifying mechanisms for increasing capture rates across the eastern US. These data highlight the importance of understanding how populations of persisting host species change following pathogen invasion across a broad spatial scale. Understanding changes to population composition following pathogen invasion can identify broad ecological patterns across space and time, and open new avenues for research to identify drivers of those patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats frequently inhabit caves and other subterranean habitats and play a critical role in subterranean food webs. With escalating threats to subterranean ecosystems, identifying the most effective measures to protect subterranean‐roosting bats is critical. We conducted a meta‐analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation and management interventions for subterranean‐roosting bats. We used network analyses to determine to what extent interventions for bats overlap those used for other subterranean taxa. We conducted our analyses with data extracted from 345 papers recommending a total of 910 conservation interventions. Gating of roost entrances was applied to preserve bat populations in 21 studies, but its effectiveness was unclear. Habitat restoration and disturbance reduction positively affected bat populations and bat behavior, respectively, in ≤4 studies. Decontamination was assessed in 2 studies and positively affected bat populations, particularly in studies focused on reducing fungal spores associated with white‐nose syndrome in North America. Monitoring of bat populations as an effective conservation strategy was unclear and infrequently tested. Only 4% of bat studies simultaneously considered other subterranean organisms. However, effective interventions for bat conservation had similarities with all other organisms. If other subterranean organisms are considered when applying interventions to conserve bats, they might also benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding mechanisms involved in speciation can be challenging, especially when hybridization or introgression blurs species boundaries. In bats, resolving relationships of some closely related groups has proved difficult due subtle interspecific variation both in morphometrics and molecular data sets. The endemic South American Histiotus bats, currently considered a subgenus of Eptesicus , harbor unresolved phylogenetic relationships and of those is a trio consisting of two closely related species: Eptesicus (Histiotus) macrotus and Eptesicus (Histiotus) montanus , and their relationship with a third, Eptesicus (Histiotus) magellanicus. The three sympatric species bear marked resemblance to each other, but can be differentiated morphologically. Furthermore, previous studies have been unable to differentiate the species from each other at a molecular level. In order to disentangle the phylogenetic relationships of these species, we examined the differentiation patterns and evolutionary history of the three Eptesicus (H.) species at the whole-genome level. The nuclear DNA statistics between the species suggest strong gene flow and recent hybridization between E. (H.) montanus and E. (H.) macrotus , whereas E. (H.) magellanicus shows a higher degree of isolation. In contrast, mitochondrial DNA shows a closer relationship between E. (H.) magellanicus and E. (H.) montanus. Opposing patterns in mtDNA and nuclear markers are often due to differences in dispersal, and here it could be both as a result of isolation in refugia during the last glacial maximum and female philopatry and male-biased dispersal. In conclusion, this study shows the importance of both the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in resolving phylogenetic relationships and species histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Limited information exists on the foraging ecology of the long-legged myotis (Myotis volans), especially with regard to use of available foraging habitats in large, relatively contiguous forested landscapes. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, we radiotagged adult long-legged myotis (n = 70) in north-central Idaho to estimate the size of home ranges and to evaluate use of available foraging habitats. Size of home range and core areas was measured for individuals with [greater than or equal to] 31 locations (n = 30) using the adaptive kernel method, and selection among available foraging habitats was evaluated using Euclidean distance analysis. Home-range estimates did not differ among males, pregnant females, and lactating females (P = 0.52). Core-area estimates also did not differ among males, pregnant females, and lactating females (P = 0.62). Second-order habitat analysis, based on vegetation, showed that home ranges of males (P = 0.01), pregnant females (P = 0.001), and lactating females (P = 0.001) all were closest to stands of medium-diameter trees, that is, trees predominantly 12.7-38.0 cm diameter at breast height (dbh), that also contained larger snags typically used as roosts ([bar.X] = 54.0 cm dbh; n = 100). Second-order habitat analysis, based on slope position, showed that home ranges of males (P = 0.0001), pregnant females (P = 0.001), and lactating females (P = 0.001) were closest to mid-slope positions. Third-order habitat analysis, based on either vegetation or slope position, did not differ from random use for males, pregnant females, and lactating females. More lepidopterans were captured in black-light traps at mid-slope positions than either upper or lower slope positions. Fecal pellets (n = 171) from 62 long-legged myotis revealed a diet primarily composed of Lepidoptera (49.2% volume, 100% frequency) and Coleoptera (31.1% volume, 100% frequency). Examination of our data demonstrates the importance of forest stand structure, topographic position, and abundance of moths in foraging habitat for long-legged myotis. Key words: diet, foraging areas, foraging habitat, habitat selection, home range, Myotis volans, prey selection

Hibernation has received considerable attention from physiologists and natural historians, but theoretical and ecological treatments of hibernation are rarer. There is ample recent evidence that costs associated with hibernation affect the degree to which hibernation is expressed in nature, but we currently lack a quantitative framework under which to make predictions about how the costs and benefits of hibernation interact under various environmental conditions. Here, we attempt the first steps towards building an optimal hibernation theory for making specific predictions about the expression of hibernation (i.e. the depth and duration of torpor bouts), metabolic functioning, and the total period of hibernation in mammals and birds. Our current understanding of the costs associated with hibernation do not allow for parameterisation of optimal hibernation theory, but we hope this work provides a roadmap for physiologists and ecologists to collect the necessary data in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]