Wind energy production in forests conflicts with tree-roosting bats

Many countries are investing heavily in wind power generation,1 triggering a high demand for suitable land. As a result, wind energy facilities are increasingly being installed in forests,2,3 despite the fact that forests are crucial for the protection of terrestrial biodiversity.4 This green-green dilemma is particularly evident for bats, as most species at risk of colliding with wind turbines roost in trees.2 With some of these species reported to be declining,5,6,7,8 we see an urgent need to understand how bats respond to wind turbines in forested areas, especially in Europe where all bat species are legally protected. We used miniaturized global positioning system (GPS) units to study how European common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula), a species that is highly vulnerable at turbines,9 respond to wind turbines in forests. Data from 60 tagged common noctules yielded a total of 8,129 positions, of which 2.3% were recorded at distances <100 m from the nearest turbine. Bats were particularly active at turbines <500 m near roosts, which may require such turbines to be shut down more frequently at times of high bat activity to reduce collision risk. Beyond roosts, bats avoided turbines over several kilometers, supporting earlier findings on habitat loss for forest-associated bats.10 This habitat loss should be compensated by developing parts of the forest as refugia for bats. Our study highlights that it can be particularly challenging to generate wind energy in forested areas in an ecologically sustainable manner with minimal impact on forests and the wildlife that inhabit them

Immune response of hibernating European bats to a fungal challenge

Immunological responses of hibernating mammals are suppressed at low body temperatures, a possible explanation for the devastating effect of the white-nose syndrome on hibernating North American bats. However, European bats seem to cope well with the fungal causative agent of the disease. To better understand the immune response of hibernating bats, especially against fungal pathogens, we challenged European greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) by inoculating the fungal antigen zymosan. We monitored torpor patterns, immune gene expressions, different aspects of the acute phase response and plasma oxidative status markers, and compared them with sham-injected control animals at 30 min, 48 h and 96 h after inoculation. Torpor patterns, body temperatures, body masses, white blood cell counts, expression of immune genes, reactive oxygen metabolites and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity did not differ between groups during the experiment. However, zymosan injected bats had significantly higher levels of haptoglobin than the control animals. Our results indicate that hibernating greater mouse-eared bats mount an inflammatory response to a fungal challenge, with only mild to negligible consequences for the energy budget of hibernation. Our study gives a first hint that hibernating European bats may have evolved a hibernation-adjusted immune response in order to balance the trade-off between competent pathogen elimination and a prudent energy-saving regime

The human dimensions of a green–green-dilemma:​ Lessons learned from the wind energy — wildlife conflict in Germany

Green–green dilemmas are particularly challenging since they involve two desirable goals, yet with detrimental counter-effects. Although wind energy production is to some desirable as a form of renewable energy for reducing global CO2 emission, it conflicts with conservation goals when airborne animals die during collisions. Yet, protecting species with high collision risk may prevent to some extent the deployment of wind turbines or involve altered operation schemes with lowered energy production, two constraints impairing the development of wind energy production. Stakeholders involved in wind turbine projects discuss this dilemma not only based on their knowledge and interests, but also on their thoughts and emotions about wind turbines or affected animals such as bats. We studied some of these cognitions and emotions of stakeholders involved in the local realization of wind turbine projects (e.g. planning or authorization) to shed light on fundamental aspects of disagreements. We undertook a self-administered online survey (n=537 respondents) with six stakeholder groups from the wind energy and conservation sector to understand i) their value orientations, beliefs and emotions, the predictive potential of ii) value orientations, beliefs, emotions on trust as well as iii) trust among and in stakeholders involved in decision making processes. We observed that beliefs about the importance of wind turbines and emotions towards wind turbines differed across stakeholders while emotions towards bats were generally positive. Overall, stakeholders had low trust in each other. Representatives from the wind energy sector had more trust in politicians compared to conservationists. Trust was most strongly influenced by beliefs about the importance of wind turbines. Beliefs about the importance of wind turbines were in turn most strongly influenced by emotions towards bats and wind turbines. We argue that awareness of different beliefs and emotions among stakeholders should be acknowledged in this apparent conflict to foster trust among stakeholders.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

The immune response of bats differs between pre-migration and migration seasons

Maintaining a competent immune system is energetically costly and thus immunity may be traded against other costly traits such as seasonal migration. Here, we tested in long-distance migratory Nathusius' pipistrelles (Pipistrellus nathusii), if selected branches of immunity are expressed differently in response to the energy demands and oxidative stress of aerial migration. During the migration period, we observed higher baseline lymphocyte and lower neutrophil levels than during the pre-migration period, but no stronger response of cellular effectors to an antigen challenge. Baseline plasma haptoglobin, as a component of the humoral innate immunity, remained similar during both seasons, yet baseline plasma haptoglobin levels increased by a factor of 7.8 in migratory bats during an immune challenge, whereas they did not change during the pre-migration period. Oxidative stress was higher during migration than during pre-migration, yet there was no association between blood oxidative status and immune parameters, and immune challenge did not trigger any changes in oxidative stress, irrespective of season. Our findings suggest that humoral effectors of the acute phase response may play a stronger role in the first-line defense against infections for migrating bats compared to non-migrating bats. We conclude that Nathusius' pipistrelles allocate resources differently into the branches of their immune system, most likely following current demands resulting from tight energy budgets during migration

High vulnerability of juvenile Nathusius' pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus nathusii) at wind turbines

Large numbers of bats are killed by wind turbines globally, yet the specific demographic consequences of wind turbine mortality are still unclear. In this study, we compared characteristics of Nathusius' pipistrelles (Pipistrellus nathusii) killed at wind turbines (N = 119) to those observed within the live population (N = 524) during the summer migration period in Germany. We used generalized linear mixed-effects modeling to identify demographic groups most vulnerable to wind turbine mortality, including sex (female or male), age (adult or juvenile), and geographic origin (regional or long-distance migrant; depicted by fur stable hydrogen isotope ratios). Juveniles contributed with a higher proportion of carcasses at wind turbines than expected given their frequency in the live population suggesting that juvenile bats may be particularly vulnerable to wind turbine mortality. This effect varied with wind turbine density. Specifically, at low wind turbine densities, representing mostly inland areas with water bodies and forests where Nathusius' pipistrelles breed, juveniles were found more often dead beneath turbines than expected based on their abundance in the live population. At high wind turbine densities, representing mostly coastal areas where Nathusius' pipistrelles migrate, adults and juveniles were equally vulnerable. We found no evidence of increased vulnerability to wind turbines in either sex, yet we observed a higher proportion of females than males among both carcasses and the live population, which may reflect a female bias in the live population most likely caused by females migrating from their northeastern breeding areas migrating into Germany. A high mortality of females is conservation concern for this migratory bat species because it affects the annual reproduction rate of populations. A distant origin did not influence the likelihood of getting killed at wind turbines. A disproportionately high vulnerability of juveniles to wind turbine mortality may reduce juvenile recruitment, which may limit the resilience of Nathusius' pipistrelles to environmental stressors such as climate change or habitat loss. Schemes to mitigate wind turbine mortality, such as elevated cut-in speeds, should be implemented throughout Europe to prevent population declines of Nathusius' pipistrelles and other migratory bats

Differences in acute phase response to bacterial, fungal and viral antigens in greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis)

The acute phase response (APR) is an evolutionarily well-conserved part of the innate immune defense against pathogens. However, recent studies in bats yielded surprisingly diverse results compared to previous APR studies on both vertebrate and invertebrate species. This is especially interesting due to the known role of bats as reservoirs for viruses and other intracellular pathogens, while being susceptible to extracellular microorganisms such as some bacteria and fungi. To better understand these discrepancies and the reservoir-competence of bats, we mimicked bacterial, viral and fungal infections in greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) and quantified different aspects of the APR over a two-day period. Individuals reacted most strongly to a viral (PolyI:C) and a bacterial (LPS) antigen, reflected by an increase of haptoglobin levels (LPS) and an increase of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte-ratio (PolyI:C and LPS). We did not detect fever, leukocytosis, body mass loss, or a change in the overall functioning of the innate immunity upon challenge with any antigen. We add evidence that bats respond selectively with APR to specific pathogens and that the activation of different parts of the immune system is species-specific

Research-Data Management Planning in the German Mathematical Community

In this paper we discuss the notion of research data for the field of mathematics and report on the status quo of research-data management and planning. A number of decentralized approaches are presented and compared to needs and challenges faced in three use cases from different mathematical subdisciplines. We highlight the importance of tailoring research-data management plans to mathematicians' research processes and discuss their usage all along the data life cycle

Using visual methods to understand physical activity maintenance following cardiac rehabilitation

© 2015 Hardcastle et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Few studies have explored the factors associated with long-term maintenance of exercise following cardiac rehabilitation. The present study used auto-photography and interviews to explore the factors that influence motivation and continued participation in physical activity among post cardiac rehabilitation patients. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted alongside participant-selected photographs or drawings with participants that had continued participation in physical activity for at least two years following the cardiac rehabilitation programme. Participants were recruited from circuit training classes in East Sussex in the UK. Thematic content analysis revealed seven main themes: fear of death and ill health avoidance, critical incidents, overcoming aging, social influences, being able to enjoy life, provision of routine and structure, enjoyment and psychological well-being. Fear of death, illness avoidance, overcoming aging, and being able to enjoy life were powerful motives for continued participation in exercise. The social nature of the exercise class was also identified as a key facilitator of continued participation. Group-based exercise suited those that continued exercise participation post cardiac rehabilitation and fostered adherence

Polymer Mechanochemistry: A New Frontier for Physical Organic Chemistry

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Polymer mechanochemistry aims at understanding and exploiting the unique chemistry that is possible when stretching macromolecular chains beyond their strain-free contour lengths. This happens when chains are subject to a mechanical load, in bulk, in solution, at interfaces or as single molecules in air. Simple polymers such as polystyrene or polymethacrylate fragment via homolysis of a backbone C–C bond, and much contemporary effort in polymer mechanochemistry has focused on creating polymers which undergo more complex and interesting reactions, with such productive mechanochemical responses including mechanochromism and load strengthening. Comparatively less progress has been achieved in creating an internally coherent, theoretically sound interpretational framework to organize, systematize, and generalize the existing manifestations of polymer mechanochemistry and to guide the design of new mechanochemical systems. The experimental, computational, and conceptual tools of physical organic chemistry appear particularly well suited to achieve this goal, benefiting both fields

Immunologische und physiologische Reaktionen von winterschlafenden Fledermäusen auf Pilzinfektionen

White-nose syndrome, or white-nose disease, is a fungal disease that is fatal to North American bats. The pathogen, a psychrophilic fungus called Pseudogymnoascus destructans, infects bats during hibernation. It grows on the animals while they are in torpor - a state in which all physiological functions including the immune system are downregulated. The fungus infests all hairless body parts and invades deep into the skin layers where it causes great damage. It has been observed that infected bats arouse more often from torpor than normal in order to clean off the fungus and elicit an immune response. Due to the increased energy consumption resulting from the multiple arousals and the attempts to mount an immune response, the animals prematurely deplete their fat reserves, which are essential for survival during hibernation, ultimately leading to death. Since the 2006 outbreak near New York, the fungus has spread across half of the North American continent and several million bats have died. The pathogen fungus P. destructans was also discovered on bats in Europe and Asia after the disease became known in North America. However, no increased mortality in relation to the fungus has been observed in Europe so far, and ring recaptures proved that individuals survive the fungal infections even over several winter periods. Molecular genetic analyses have shown that the P. destructans is native to Europe and has been carried to North America, under unknown circumstances. Historical data sources have also shown that the fungus has been present on bats in Europe for at least 100 years. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that European bats have already evolved defences to the fungal disease, while American bats still lack this adaptation. To shed light on the question what mechanisms enable European bats to survive P. destructans infections, the present work investigated physiological and immunological responses occurring in fungus-infected European hibernating bats. For this purpose, I studied greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) in laboratory and field experiments, as this species is most frequently infected with P. destructans in Europe. Since previous attempts failed to effectively infect greater mouse-eared bats with P. destructans in the laboratory, I mimicked a fungal infection under laboratory conditions in a first experiment (Chapter 1) by subcutaneously inoculating zymosan into the bats. This substance is often used as a fungal antigen in laboratory experiments to elicit antifungal immune responses. Skin temperature recordings from data loggers attached to the bats revealed that the animals did not respond to zymosan with fever or with more frequent arousals, and blood levels did not show excessive immune responses - contrasting to American bats which are infected with P. destructans. However, I found that although the animals treated with zymosan did not react with an adequate immune response as would be expected outside of the hibernation period (e.g., change in white blood cell concentration and composition), they did only respond with an increase in haptoglobin, an acute-phase protein that is secreted during inflammatory responses and is effective against microbial pathogens. From the results, I concluded that there seems to be a hibernation-adapted immune response in great mouse-eared bats that allows them to limit the negative effects of infection with pathogens such as P. destructans without completely eliminating the pathogen to conserve energy (tolerance response). This moderate immune response apparently occurs during regular arousals without change in their duration or frequency. This reaction could be a general adaptation for the hibernation period, whereas a full immune response and recovery does not occur until the following spring, when sufficient food or energy resources are available. To perform immunological studies on bats which are actually infected with P. destructans, I conducted a field experiment (Chapter 2). Thus, I first placed temperature loggers on wild hibernating greater mouse-eared bats before any visible fungal infections could be observed. After approximately one month, I revisited the hibernacula to determine disease symptoms of the bats, retrieved the temperature loggers, and collected blood samples. Based on the cutaneous temperature recordings and the documented disease symptoms, I was able to show that the greater mouse-eared bats continued their hibernation despite fungal infections and also did not show fever symptoms, as is the case with North American bats. In addition, I found that body weight, an indicator of stored energy in the form of fat, has a decisive influence on how often the animals can arouse from torpor during hibernation period. The heavier the animals, the more frequently they can afford the energy-consuming arousals during which they also reduce the fungus. Interestingly, we found signs of an inflammatory response in the blood of torpid severely infected animals. In doing so, they use baseline concentrations of some immune parameters present in the blood (including haptoglobin) without synthesizing new immunological substances. I assume that the use of baseline concentrations in response to the infection is a strategy to avoid additional arousals which are presumably necessary for protein synthesis since most immune functions are downregulated during torpor. In conclusion, these results also suggest immunological tolerance of European bats to the pathogen P. destructans during hibernation. Additionally, I found tendencies of increased oxidative stress in animals that exhibited severe symptoms of the fungal infection. This result indicates that there is still a need for research on the ultimate cost of white-nose disease in European bats. As a helpful tool for further white-nose disease studies, I developed a non-invasive method (Chapter 3) to assess white-nose disease symptoms on hibernating bats without the need to disturb the animals, as it was the case for previous standard methods. This assessment system, which uses visual classification of the fungal infestation to determine the severity of the disease, was compared and validated against the other invasive standard methods used to date. With the help of this method it is henceforth possible to determine white-nose disease including its severity in torpid animals and due to its non-invasiveness it is even possible to do this with the help of many other bat researchers and conservationists on a large scale and in a standardized way during routine winter censuses, as it is requested on international level.Das Weißnasen-Syndrom oder auch Weißnasenkrankheit genannt, ist eine für nordamerikanische Fledermäuse tödliche Pilzkrankheit. Der Erreger, ein psychrophiler Pilz namens Pseudogymnoascus destructans, befällt Fledermäuse während der Überwinterung. Er wächst auf den Tieren solange sie im Torpor sind - ein Zustand, in dem alle physiologische Funktionen inklusive des Immunsystems weitgehend heruntergefahren sind. Er befällt alle unbehaarten Körperteile und dringt tief in die Hautschichten ein, wo er große Schäden verursacht. Es wurde beobachtet, dass befallene Fledermäuse öfter als normal aus dem Winterschlaf erwachen, um während dieser Wachphasen sich den Pilz von der Haut zu putzen und eine Immunreaktion hervorzurufen. Durch den erhöhten Energieverbrauch infolge der häufigen Aufwachphasen und das hochfahren des Immunsystems verbrennen die Tiere vorzeitig ihre Fettreserven, die für das Überleben während des Winterschlafes essentiell sind, was letztendlich zum Tode führt. Seit dem Ausbruch der Krankheit im Jahr 2006 in der Nähe von New York hat sich der Pilz über den halben nordamerikanischen Kontinent ausgebreitet und es sind mehrere Millionen Fledermäuse gestorben. Der pathogene Pilz P. destructans wurde nach dem Bekanntwerden der Krankheit in Nordamerika auch auf Fledermäusen in Europa und Asien entdeckt. Allerdings wurde hier bislang keine erhöhte Mortalität durch den Pilz verursacht und Ring-Wiederfunde belegten, dass die Individuen die Pilz-Infektionen selbst über mehrere Winterperioden überleben. Molekular-genetische Analysen haben gezeigt, dass der Pilz in Europa heimisch ist und auf ungeklärtem Wege nach Nordamerika verschleppt worden ist. Auch historische Datenquellen haben gezeigt, dass der Pilz schon seit mindestens 100 Jahren auf Fledermäusen in Europa vorkommt. Deshalb liegt die Annahme nahe, dass Europäische Fledermäuse bereits an die Pilzkrankheit angepasst sind, während den amerikanischen Fledermäusen diese Anpassung noch fehlt. Um zu untersuchen, welche Anpassungen es europäischen Fledermäusen ermöglicht, die Infektionen mit P. destructans zu überleben, wurde in der vorliegenden Arbeit untersucht, welche physiologischen und immunologischen Reaktionen bei pilzbefallenen winterschlafenden europäischen Fledermäusen auftreten. Hierfür habe ich Große Mausohren (Myotis myotis) in Labor- und Freilandexperimenten untersucht, da diese Art in Europa am Häufigsten mit P. destructans befallen wird. Da es bislang nicht gelungen ist, Große Mausohren im Labor effektiv mit P. destructans zu infizieren, habe ich in einem ersten Experiment unter Laborbedingungen eine Pilzinfektion simuliert (Kapitel 1), in dem ich den Großen Mausohren subkutan Zymosan injiziert habe. Diese Substanz ist ein pilzliches Antigen, welche in Laborversuchen häufig als genutzt wird um antifungale Immunreaktionen auszulösen. Temperaturaufzeichnungen von Datenloggern, die auf den Tieren angebracht waren, haben ergeben, dass die Tiere weder mit Fieber noch mit häufigeren Aufwachphasen auf Zymosan reagierten und auch die Blutwerte zeigten keine übermäßigen Immunreaktionen - anders als bei den amerikanischen Verwandten, die mit P. destructans infiziert wurden. Ich habe festgestellt, dass die mit Zymosan behandelten Tiere zwar nicht mit einer adäquaten Immunreaktion reagierten wie sie außerhalb der Winterschlafphase zu erwarten wäre (z.B. Veränderung der Konzentration und der Zusammensetzung der weißen Blutzellen), jedoch mit einer Erhöhung von Haptoglobin, ein Akute-Phase-Protein, das bei Entzündungsreaktionen ausgeschüttet wird und effektiv gegen mikrobielle Erreger wirkt. Aus den Resultaten schlussfolgerte ich, dass es bei Großen Mausohren eine winterschlaf-angepasste Immunreaktion gibt, die es ihnen erlaubt, die negativen Auswirkungen einer Infektion mit Pathogenen wie P. destructans zu begrenzen, ohne den Erreger komplett zu beseitigen, um Energie zu sparen (Toleranzreaktion). Diese moderate Immunreaktion findet offenbar während regulärer Aufwachphasen statt, ohne dass diese sich hinsichtlich ihrer Dauer oder Häufigkeit verändern. Dies könnte eine generelle Anpassung für die Winterschlafphase sein, während eine vollständige Immunreaktion und eine Heilung erst im darauffolgenden Frühling stattfindet, wenn wieder ausreichend Nahrung bzw. Energieressourcen zur Verfügung stehen. Um immunologische Untersuchungen an Fledermäusen durchzuführen, die tatsächlich mit P. destructans infiziert sind, habe ich ein Freilandexperiment durchgeführt (Kapitel 2). Dafür habe ich zunächst Temperaturlogger auf wildlebenden winterschlafenden Großen Mausohren angebracht - zu einem Zeitpunkt, an dem noch keine Pilzinfektionen sichtbar waren. Nach zirka einem Monat habe ich erneut die Winterquartiere aufgesucht, um Krankheitssymptome der Fledermäuse zu bestimmen, die Temperaturlogger zu entfernten und Blutproben zu entnehmen. Anhand der kutanen Temperaturaufzeichnungen und dem erfassten Krankheitsbild konnte ich zeigen, dass die Mausohren trotz Pilzinfektionen ihren Winterschlaf fortsetzten und auch keinerlei Fiebersymptome zeigten, wie es bei amerikanischen Fledermäusen der Fall ist. Darüber hinaus ließ sich feststellen, dass das Körpergewicht, ein Indikator für die gespeicherte Energie in Form von Fett, einen entscheidenden Einfluss darauf hat, wie oft die Tiere während der Winterschlafperiode aus dem Torpor erwachen können. Je schwerer die Tiere sind, desto häufiger können sie sich die energieaufwändigen Aufwachphasen leisten, in denen sie auch den Pilzbefall reduzieren. Interessanter Weise haben wir in dem Blut der torpiden Tiere festgestellt, dass schwer infizierte Tiere Anzeichen für eine Entzündungsreaktion zeigen. Dabei scheinen Sie Basiskonzentrationen einiger im Blut vorhandenen Immunparameter zu nutzen (u.a. Haptoglobin), ohne neue immunologische Substanzen zu synthetisieren. Ich gehe davon aus, dass die Nutzung dieser Basiskonzentrationen eine Strategie ist, um zusätzliche Aufwachphasen zu vermeiden, die für die Proteinsynthese vermutlich notwendig sind, da die meisten Immunfunktionen während des Torpors herunterreguliert sind. Auch diese Ergebnisse suggerieren eine immunologische Toleranz der europäischen Fledermäuse gegenüber dem Erreger P. destructans während des Winterschlafes. Darüber hinaus habe ich bei den Tieren mit schweren Infektionen Anzeichen für erhöhten oxidativen Stress gefunden. Dies zeigt, dass es noch Forschungsbedarf bei den tatsächlichen Kosten der Weißnasenkrankheit bei Europäischen Fledermäusen gibt. Als hilfreiches Instrument für weitere Untersuchungen der Weißnasenkrankheit habe ich eine nicht-invasive Methode entwickelt (Kapitel 3), mit der man Symptome der Weißnasenkrankheit auf den winterschlafenden Fledermäusen bewerten kann, ohne dass man die Tiere hierfür stören muss - wie es bei bisherigen Standardmethoden der Fall war. Dieses Bewertungssystem, welches mittels visueller Klassifizierung des Pilzbefalls den Schweregrad der Erkrankung ermittelt, wurde mit den anderen bislang verwendeten invasiven Standardmethoden verglichen und validiert. Mit Hilfe der neuen Methode ist es fortan möglich, die Weißnasenkrankheit inklusive ihrer Schweregrade an torpiden Tieren zu bestimmen und aufgrund ihrer Nichtinvasivität ist es sogar möglich, dies mit Hilfe vieler andere Fledermausforscher und -schützer großflächig und standardisiert während routine-mäßiger Winterzählungen zu tun, wie es bereits international gefordert wird