Drivers of variation in species impacts for a multi-host fungal disease of bats.

摘要: Disease can play an important role in structuring species communities because the effects of disease vary among hosts; some are driven towards extinction, while others suffer relatively little impact. Why impacts host remains poorly understood for most multi-host pathogens, and factors allowing less-susceptible to persist could be useful conserving highly affected species. White-nose syndrome (WNS), emerging fungal bats, has decimated sympatric closely related have experienced effect. We analysed data on infection prevalence, loads environmental determine how variation influenced severity WNS population impacts. Intense transmission resulted almost uniformly high prevalence all By contrast, varied over 3 orders magnitude species, explained 98% Fungal increased with hibernating roosting temperatures, bats at warmer temperatures having higher suffering greater also found evidence a threshold load, above which probability mortality may increase sharply, this was similar multiple This study demonstrates differences behavioural traits species-in case microclimate preferences-that been previously adaptive deleterious after introduction new pathogen. Management reduce pathogen rather than exposure effective way reducing impact preventing extinctions.This article is part themed issue 'Tackling threats animal health, food security ecosystem resilience'.