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Tom Kunz chatting live about bats and the atmosphere

Lauren Davalla — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:44:22 +0000

CAS Professor of Biology and Director of our Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology Tom Kunz will be chatting live from the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) meeting in Washington D.C. tomorrow at noon via Science magazine’s homepage, ScienceNOW. The chat will also stream live below. ScienceNOW chats occur daily and are moderated by an expert from their news staff; reader questions are solicited ahead of time via their site’s comments section.

Live @ AAAS – Tom Kunz

Northeast bats in danger of extinction

Dick Taffe — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:31:16 +0000

One of North America’s most common bat species, the so-called little brown bat, will be all but extinct in the Northeast in 20 years to due to an emerging fungal desease called White-Nose Syndrome.

That’s the conclusion of a new study by Boston University biologists, including Professor Thomas Kunz and post-doctoral researcher Dr. Winifred Frick who authored the study published in the new edition of Science magazine. Kunz says the loss of the bat population could have a significant negative impact on humans because bats consume so many insects.

“The little brown myotis is known to consume up to 100% of its body weight in insects each night. This level of insect consumption provides an important ecosystem service to human kind, and to the balance of natural and human-altered ecosystems, which in turn can reduce the use of pesticides often used by humans to kill insect pests.”

Contact Tom Kunz, 617-353-2474, kunz@bu.edu

Kunz to testify before Congress for White-Nose Syndrome research

Ron Rosenberg — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:13:59 +0000

The loss of one million cave-dwelling bats, from a devastating fungus known as White-Nose Syndrome, has led to a congressional inquiry. On June 4 biology professor and bat expert Thomas Kunz will testify and call for a national comprehensive research program to identify the cause of this disease.

Contact Thomas Kunz, 617-353-2474, kunz@bu.edu

Northeast Bat-Killing Disease is Spreading Southward

Ron Rosenberg — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:57:08 +0000

From New Hampshire to Virginia, Thomas Kunz, biology professor and long-time expert on bats, searches for answers about White Nose Syndrome, the mysterious white fungus that continues to kill tens of thousands of bats. Like the disappearing honeybees and frogs, bats play a critical role in the balance of nature, consuming 50 to 100 percent their body weight in insects in a single night. He worries the mysterious disease may move further south.

“If this continues to spread, we are talking about extinctions. I’ve studied bats for 44 years. This is unprecedented in my lifetime. What are these insects going to do that aren’t being eaten? They can cause serious damage to crops, gardens and forests, further upsetting both the natural and human-altered ecosystems.”

Contact Thomas Kunz, 617-353-2474, kunz@bu.edu