Surveillance for White-Nose Syndrome in the Bat Community at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico, 2011 (Paperback)

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease that has been devastating to populations of hibernating bats in the eastern United States and has spread westward. It was first reported in the winter of 2006- 2007 near Albany, New York. Since then, it has spread westward to western Kentucky and Tennessee, and in 2010, the WNS-related fungus (Geomyces destructans) was documented in western Oklahoma. Given the proximity of G. destructans to El Malpais National Monument and its effects on hibernating bats, the monument contacted the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct an assessment for the presence of this fungus or related disease on bats. During the late winter and early spring of 2011, the USGS Arid Lands Field Station initiated mist-netting efforts at El Malpais National Monument and on adjacent lands belonging to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (FS). Field efforts were conducted during spring and summer but were concentrated in the early spring, when the presence of the fungus or its effects would be detectable compared to warmer and later periods of the spring and summer. However, irregular wind speeds, as well as cold temperatures and snow, likely had a negative effect on net captures and success during the spring. Nonetheless, during this assessment, 421 bats belonging to 8 species were documented at El Malpais National Monument and adjacent lands. None of these captures showed evidence for the presence of G. destructans or white-nose syndrome, but it is possible that the subtle signs of some infections may not have been observed.