| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
White Nose Syndrome Identified in Bats at WKU Research Cave By: Chris Groves BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - White Nose Syndrome (WNS), an often-fatal disease that is ravaging bat populations throughout eastern North America, was positively identified last week within WKU-owned Crumps Cave in northern Warren County near Smiths Grove. Dr. Rick Toomey, Director of the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning, led a team of National Park Service scientists on a survey of the cave's bats on Feb. 10. It soon became clear that there was a serious problem when the second bat they investigated had unmistakable signs of the telltale white fungus associated with WNS that can grow on the bats' faces and other areas of the body. Of the 53 individual Tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) observed by the team, 12 had clear signs of WNS. Several big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) were also found, but appeared to be healthy. White Nose Syndrome was discovered in a New York cave in 2006, and since then it has spread to at least 25 states and five Canadian Provinces. It is caused by a previously unidentified fungus species. In some places where bats hibernate for the winter, up to 90 percent of individuals have been wiped out. A variety of scientists from different fields are trying to understand the dynamics of WNS and how it might be controlled. More information on WNS can be found at https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org. Dr. Chris Groves, Director of WKU's Crawford Hydrology Laboratory who serves as a member of management team of the WKU Crumps Cave Research and Education Preserve, had requested the assistance of the National Park Service to provide a team that could inventory the current bats and evaluate conditions for WNS. He accompanied the team into cave. "Since White Nose arrived in Kentucky in 2012, and Mammoth Cave National Park the year after, we have guessed that it's just a matter of time until it got to Crumps," he said. There is particular concern because the cave is home to a summer colony of federally endangered gray bats (Myotis grisescens). "It was still really hard to actually see it there," Dr. Groves added. WKU purchased the land containing the cave entrance in 2008 through a grant from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board (KHLCFB), a state agency that uses funds from conservation license plates and environmental fines paid to the state to provide grants for the purchase of land to preserve it for conservation. WKU has a long and successful history of collaboration with the KHLCFB, particularly through the WKU owned Green River Preserve in Hart County, 1,520 acres along the Green River upstream from Mammoth Cave National Park that is home to at least 12 endangered species. "We are so very proud of the partnership between WKU and KHLCF," said Dr. Richie Kessler, the board's director. "This collaboration has led to the conservation of some of Kentucky's most important landscape features and biological resources while also providing numerous opportunities for new discoveries and on-site scientific research by students and faculty." Dr. Kessler and KHLCF Staff Biologist Zeb Weese were notified Feb. 10 about the discovery of WNS at Crumps. This story was posted on 2015-02-18 09:04:28
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic News:
City Hall, Columbia, KY, is OPEN, today, Wed 18 Feb 2015 I-65 northbound closed - Hart County, KY Columbia USDA Service Center closed Wed 18 Feb 2015 Adanta Clinics closed, District Wide Blizzard of 16 Feb 2015: Global warming results from Gadberry Someone: Talk to the Weather Man! County Offices will be 10am-2pmCT Wed 18 Feb 2015 Just in: Westlake announces new Winter Storm CLOSINGS Reader begs for picture of Kenny Buck (Sponsored) - Betty's OKCC open at 5amCT, Wed 18 Nov 2015 View even more articles in topic News |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
