White-Nose Syndrome in Bats

Pete Pattavina, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a GA-EPPC (Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council) board member, started cave surveys this week with GA DNR and the Georgia Museum of Natural History.



Nikki Castleberry from the Georgia Museum of Natural History also took part in the survey. She swabbed a tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) for evidence of white-nose syndrome, caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, most likely of European origin.  

Read more about White-Nose Syndrome in bats

• Science News article "Bat-killing fungus is a European import"
• Research Review article "National Interagency Team MobilizingTo
• Read USDA Firest Service article "Help Us Slow the Spread of White-nose Syndrome"
• Watch the video "The Battle for Bats: White Nose Syndome" 

Tree Health and Human Health Linked

From an article by the USDA Forest service: "Evidence is increasing from multiple scientific fields that exposure to the natural environment can improve human health. In a new study by the U.S. Forest Service, the presence of trees was associated with human health.
For Geoffrey Donovan, a research forester at the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, and his colleagues, the loss of 100 million trees in the eastern and midwestern United States was an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact of a major change in the natural environment on human health."

• Read the article on the USDA Forest Service website
• Read the research article 'The Relationship Between Trees and Human Health' by Geoffrey Donovan, et al