密歇根新闻广播 聚在一起取暖的蝙蝠可能遭受白鼻病威胁

 

White-nose syndrome¹ is killing² millions of bats in 31 states including Michigan, and five Canadian provinces. It’s a disease caused by a fungus³.

But clusters of bats that warm up together during hibernation⁴ might have an edge against the fungus. Researchers discovered this by putting temperature-sensing surveillance cameras in caves.

Paul Cryan is a research biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He and his team studied Indiana bats and little brown bats.

“Both species are affected⁵ by white-nose syndrome, and both species we thought hibernated⁶ in the same way, but in spots where white-nose syndrome had struck the Indiana bats, at the site we monitored, they were warming up together as a group every night during the winters we monitored them in that cave,” he says.

Bats that have white-nose syndrome rouse more frequently during hibernation. They can burn through their fat reserves more quickly, and Cryan says they can then die as a result.

Cryan says the Indiana bats that roused from hibernation every night as a group might have an advantage against the disease.

“We speculate that this warming up together may be a way the bats actually fight back the fungal infection. Because the fungus is cold-growing, and it only grows when their bodies are cold, it’s possible that because these bats warm up together, they save energy... and fight back the fungus by warming up to a temperature periodically that the fungus doesn't do so well inside their body," he says.

Cryan says although there’s still a lot to learn about how different bat species deal with white-nose syndrome, these new findings could reveal a way to help vulnerable populations.

“There’s hope that the bats have the capacity to deal with fungal infection and maybe mitigate⁷ the effects of the disease, the fungal infection, as it spreads across the continent about halfway⁸ now. But there’s also clear evidence that certain species of bats may need our help more than others,” he says.

1 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

4 hibernation   

n.冬眠

参考例句：

• Bears wake up in the spring after a winter of hibernation.熊经过一个冬天的冬眠后在春季苏醒。
• The tortoise spends the winter months in hibernation.乌龟在冬眠中度过寒冬季节。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 hibernated   

（某些动物）冬眠，蛰伏( hibernate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The insects have hibernated in beech mast on the ground. 一些昆虫在地上的山毛榉果实中冬眠。
• Like most of the omnivorous animals, they hibernated only after storing enough energy. 跟大多数杂食性动物，它们只在储存了足够的能量后才冬眠。

7 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

8 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。