Honorable mention for NSF GRFP proposal
Classen lab student Jessica Bryant was awarded an honorable mention for her NSF GRFP proposal.
Archives for April 2011
American Association of University Women postdoc fellowship to Lara Souza
Classen lab postdoc Lara Souza was recently awarded an American Association of University Women (AAUW) post doc fellowship.
EEB undergrads in science writing workshop with Nature editor
EEB undergraduates Sarah Wood, Danny Lusk, and Alix Pfennigwerth were invited to attend a science writing workshop with ‘Nature’ Magazine Editor M. Mitchell Waldrop.
Incoming Classen lab student
Relena Ribbons will join the department as a PhD student in the Classen lab this fall and was awarded a Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education (CIRE) fellowship.
Grad student book editors interview
EEB grad students Matt Niemiller and R. Graham Reynolds are editors of the new book Amphibians of Tennessee.
Phi Kappa Phi award winners at EUReCA
Assistant Professor Brandon Matheny sponsored two undergraduates, Pawel Kosentka (biochemistry concentration) and Sarah Sprague (psychology major), in an undergraduate research project that examined the evolution of fungal toxins in the mushroom family Inocybaceae. This work was also performed in collaboration with Dr. Shawn Campagna and Amanda May in the Chemistry Department. Pawel and Sarah’s research was featured at the Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement, also known as EUReCA. Of the 187 presentations, Pawel and Sarah’s poster won one of three Phi Kappa Phi awards. See https://news.utk.edu/2011/03/22/eureca-research-week/ for more information.
Science article on economic importance of bats
Bats in North America are under a two-pronged attack but they are not the only victim – so is the U.S. economy. Gary McCracken, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, along with lead author Justin Boyles of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and coauthors Paul Cryan of the U.S. Geological Survey and Thomas Kunz of Boston University, analyzed the economic impact of the loss of bats in North America in agriculture and found it to be in the $3.7 to $53 billion a year range. This was published in the April 1 edition of Science.
Since 2006, more than a million bats have died due to a fungal disease called White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). At the same time, several migratory tree-dwelling species are being killed in unprecedented numbers by wind turbines. This hurts the economy because bats’ diet of pest insects reduces the damage the insects cause to crops and decreases the need for pesticides.
In fact, the researchers estimate the value of bats to the agricultural industry is roughly $22.9 billion a year, with the extremes ranging as low as $3.7 and $53 billion a year.
“These estimates include the reduced costs of pesticide applications that are not needed to suppress the insects consumed by bats. However, they do not include the downstream impacts of pesticides on humans, domestic and wild animals and our environment,” said McCracken. “Without bats, crop yields are affected. Pesticide applications go up. Even if our estimates were quartered, they clearly show how bats have enormous potential to influence the economics of agriculture and forestry.”
According to the researchers, a single colony of 150 big brown bats in Indiana eat nearly 1.3 million insects a year — insects that could potentially be damaging to crops.
WNS infects the skin of bats while they hibernate. Some species such as the little brown bat are likely to go extinct in parts of North America. The disease has quickly spread from Canada to Tennessee, Missouri and Oklahoma and actions to slow or stop it have proven unsuccessful.
It is unknown how many bats have died due to wind turbines, but the scientists estimate by 2020, wind turbines will have killed 33,000 to 111,000 annually in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands alone. Why migratory tree-dwelling species are drawn to the turbines remains a mystery.
Due to the economic and ecological importance, the researchers urge policy-makers to avoid a wait-and-see approach to the issue of widespread declines of bat populations.
“Not acting is not an option because the life histories of these flying, nocturnal mammals — characterized by long generation times and low reproductive rates — mean that population recovery is unlikely for decades or even centuries, if at all,” said McCracken.
According to McCracken, solutions will only be fueled in the next few years by increased awareness of the benefits of insectivorous bats among the public, policymakers and scientists.
Science article on economic importance of bats
Bats in North America are under a two-pronged attack but they are not the only victim – so is the U.S. economy. Gary McCracken, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, along with lead author Justin Boyles of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and coauthors Paul Cryan of the U.S. Geological Survey and Thomas Kunz of Boston University, analyzed the economic impact of the loss of bats in North America in agriculture and found it to be in the $3.7 to $53 billion a year range. This was published in the April 1 edition of Science.
Since 2006, more than a million bats have died due to a fungal disease called White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). At the same time, several migratory tree-dwelling species are being killed in unprecedented numbers by wind turbines. This hurts the economy because bats’ diet of pest insects reduces the damage the insects cause to crops and decreases the need for pesticides.
In fact, the researchers estimate the value of bats to the agricultural industry is roughly $22.9 billion a year, with the extremes ranging as low as $3.7 and $53 billion a year.
“These estimates include the reduced costs of pesticide applications that are not needed to suppress the insects consumed by bats. However, they do not include the downstream impacts of pesticides on humans, domestic and wild animals and our environment,” said McCracken. “Without bats, crop yields are affected. Pesticide applications go up. Even if our estimates were quartered, they clearly show how bats have enormous potential to influence the economics of agriculture and forestry.”
According to the researchers, a single colony of 150 big brown bats in Indiana eat nearly 1.3 million insects a year — insects that could potentially be damaging to crops.
WNS infects the skin of bats while they hibernate. Some species such as the little brown bat are likely to go extinct in parts of North America. The disease has quickly spread from Canada to Tennessee, Missouri and Oklahoma and actions to slow or stop it have proven unsuccessful.
It is unknown how many bats have died due to wind turbines, but the scientists estimate by 2020, wind turbines will have killed 33,000 to 111,000 annually in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands alone. Why migratory tree-dwelling species are drawn to the turbines remains a mystery.
Due to the economic and ecological importance, the researchers urge policy-makers to avoid a wait-and-see approach to the issue of widespread declines of bat populations.
“Not acting is not an option because the life histories of these flying, nocturnal mammals — characterized by long generation times and low reproductive rates — mean that population recovery is unlikely for decades or even centuries, if at all,” said McCracken.
According to McCracken, solutions will only be fueled in the next few years by increased awareness of the benefits of insectivorous bats among the public, policymakers and scientists.