Elizabeth Kolbert begins chapter 10 by saying that it’s best to take a bat census in winter because they’ll be hibernating. When doing this, Wildlife biologists noticed many bats were dead and covered in a white powder substance. It was noticed that more bats were dying because of this white substance and they found out that is was a cold-loving fungus called Psychrophile.
Kolbert brings up the discovery about fossils of the same species being found on different continents. As a result of this discovery, German meteorologist Alfred Wegener believed that all of the continents were once combined into one supercontinent called Pangaea.
After discussing this discovery, Kolbert goes back to the bat situation and she goes with Al Hicks to the Adirondacks mountains to record a bat census. In one of the shafts inside the mountain, they saw many bats with the white fungus on them. Hicks believed that this fungus kills them because it dehydrates them and it irritates them.
Kolbert mentions that since every continent has species of plants and animals from other continents, there’s an interconnectedness between them. Although the continents are now separated, this connection between them is defined by the term “New Pangaea”. This relates to the theme “The Earth itself is one interconnected system” because every continent benefits from each other through trade and through the introduction of new species. The chapter connected this to the Columbian Exchange.
Kolbert then talks about her trip to the Aeolus Cave with Vermont official Scott Darling and Hicks. Once they arrived, they saw many dead bats on the cave floor and collected samples.
Kolbert brings up the idea of invasive species and she mentions that science writer Alan Burdick called Homo sapiens “arguably the most successful invader in biological history” (Pg. 210). (E) When Burdick says this, I understand what he means. Throughout history, humans already dominated the environment by farming and domesticating animals. Once the Industrial Revolution came along, technology became more advanced and urbaner areas were created. Ever since, humans were able to successfully use nature and their surroundings to their advantage. It was said that invasive species can lead to new and more evolved species, meaning that it’ll take some time for the ecosystem to restabilize.
Kolbert said that she began going back to the Aeolus cave yearly and she noticed that the bat population continued to decrease. Eventually, some bat species were declared endangered. It was found that the white fungus was able to spread from one bat to the other because they hibernated in clusters.
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