The scope and severity of white-nose syndrome on hibernating bats in North America

Assessing the scope and severity of threats is necessary for evaluating impacts on populations to inform conservation planning. Quantitative threat assessment often requires monitoring programs that provide reliable data over relevant spatial and temporal scales, yet such programs can be difficult to justify until there is an apparent stressor. Leveraging efforts of wildlife management agencies to record winter counts of hibernating bats, we collated data for 5 species from over 200 sites across 27 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces from 1995 to 2018 to determine the impact of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly disease of hibernating bats. We estimated declines of winter counts of bat colonies at sites where the invasive fungus that causes WNS (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) had been detected to assess the threat impact of WNS. Three species undergoing species status assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Myotis septentrionalis, Myotis lucifugus, and Perimyotis subflavus) declined by more than 90%, which warrants classifying the severity of the WNS threat as extreme based on criteria used by NatureServe. The scope of the WNS threat as defined by NatureServe criteria was large (36% of Myotis lucifugus range) to pervasive (79% of Myotis septentrionalis range) for these species. Declines for 2 other species (Myotis sodalis and Eptesicus fuscus) were less severe but still qualified as moderate to serious based on NatureServe criteria. Data-sharing across jurisdictions provided a comprehensive evaluation of scope and severity of the threat of WNS and indicated regional differences that can inform response efforts at international, national, and state or provincial jurisdictions. We assessed the threat impact of an emerging infectious disease by uniting monitoring efforts across jurisdictional boundaries and demonstrated the importance of coordinated monitoring programs, such as the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), for data-driven conservation assessments and planning.     

Less-invasive autopsy for early pregnancy loss

Autopsy investigations provide valuable information regarding fetal death that can assist in the parental bereavement process, and influence future pregnancies, but conventional autopsy is often declined by parents because of its invasive approach. This has led to the development of less-invasive autopsy investigations based on imaging technology to provide a more accessible and acceptable choice for parents when investigating their loss. Whilst the development and use of more conventional clinical imaging techniques (radiographs, CT, MRI, US) are well described in the literature for fetuses over 20 weeks of gestational age, these investigations have limited diagnostic accuracy in imaging smaller fetuses. Techniques such as ultra-high-field MRI (>3T) and micro-focus computed tomography have been shown to have higher diagnostic accuracy whilst still being acceptable to parents. By further developing and increasing the availability of these more innovative imaging techniques, parents will be provided with a greater choice of acceptable options to investigate their loss, which may in turn increase their uptake. We provide a narrative review focussing on the development of high-resolution, non-invasive imaging techniques to evaluate early gestational pregnancy loss.     

Recycling as a planned behavior: the moderating role of perceived behavioral control

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study examines the effectiveness of a public service announcement (PSA) video designed based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in motivating...