Today's intersection: bats and bumble bees

White River at Stamford, South Dakota where the only sound was that of bees working the record sweet clover.

On orders from the Trump Organization’s Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue and Governor Mark Gordon, the Forest Service, the US Department of Agriculture and the Wyoming Game & Fish Department sprayed the herbicide Rejuvra® with a helicopter on cheatgrass in a 9,200 acre area within the Mullen Fire scar near Laramie, Wyoming. People recreating on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest were urged to avoid the kill zone so imagine the effects on native pollinators and cervid genetics.

The western bumble bee was once common in western North America, but increasing temperatures, drought, and pesticide use have contributed to a 57% decline in the occurrence of this species in its historical range, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey-led study. The research team found another reason for the reduced distribution of the once common western bumble bee in a pesticide use dataset spanning 2008-2014: a group of insecticides called neonicotinoids, which are commonly used in agriculture. In areas where neonicotinoids were applied, the western bumble bee was less likely to occur and as the rate of neonicotinoid application increased, the bumble bee’s presence declined further. [Climate change and pesticides imperil a once common pollinator]

Insects contaminated with industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals in water supplies are weakening immune systems spreading white nose syndrome to bats as part of Earth's anthropogenic-driven sixth mass extinction.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is delaying the effective date of the final rule to reclassify the northern long-eared bat from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The agency is extending the effective date by 60 days, from Jan. 30, 2023, to March 31, 2023. The extension will allow the Service to finalize conservation tools and guidance to avoid confusion and disruption for landowners, federal partners and industry with projects occurring in suitable habitats within the northern long-eared bat’s 37-state range. The rule reclassifying the northern long-eared bat from threatened to endangered was published in the Federal Register Nov. 30, 2022; the bat remains protected as a threatened species with a 4(d) rule until the reclassification becomes effective on March 31. The northern long-eared bat was listed as threatened in 2015. It now faces extinction due to the range-wide impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting hibernating bats across North America. [Effective date to reclassify northern long-eared bat as endangered extended]

It’s not just private property owners, the US Forest Service and the other public land managers buy and apply millions of tons of chemicals every year including fire retardants.

Carbaryl (1-naphthyl methylcarbamate) is a white crystalline solid commonly sold under the brand name Sevin®, a trademark of the Bayer Group. It kills beneficial insects like honeybees as well as crustaceans not to mention its havoc wreaked on fungal communities and amphibians. Sevin® is often produced using methyl isocyanate the chemical that Union Carbide used to kill thousands of people in Bhopal, India. 

The deadly chemicals migrate easily into waterways then into groundwater. The US Environmental Protection Agency has found that virtually all endangered species are threatened by pesticides like Carbaryl.

Bats are important yet often misunderstood mammals. Here’s why bats are nature’s nocturnal heroes and how you can help: https://t.co/UOo2oYpoDq

— USFWS News (@USFWSNews) January 25, 2023

.@USGS scientists used a novel approach to create the first known maps of nonnative yellow sweet clover in MT & SD. Species-specific maps can inform the ecological effects of plant invasions & guide management 👉 https://t.co/32CaGtYH51#BiologicalInvasions #UAS #USGS_NOROCK pic.twitter.com/tlUht0NIra

— USGS in Montana (@USGS_MT) January 19, 2023