Locking-in white-nose syndrome? The limits of the endangered species act & non-charismatic megafauna

ABSTRACT

White-nose syndrome is a deadly pathogenic fungus that has killed millions of bats. In this article, we ask why, despite a well-coordinated response and a relatively steady federal funding stream, WNS has continued to spread with lethal results? To answer this question, we bring together the tools of political ecologists studying health and diseases with social scientific observations on the impacts of lock-ins on social change. We argue that while federal legislation such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) allowed researchers to quickly recognize the emergence of WNS, the ESA’s focus and directives to protect individual species constrained the ability of scientists to more rapidly understand both the fungus causing WNS and the broader ecosystem dynamics in which the disease can flourish. In addition, while the ESA was written to protect endangered species regardless of their public perception or perceived economic value, such dynamics influence what gets classified as endangered and how much funding a species receives for protection. We thus further argue that the anthropocentric nature of policy making has made it difficult to address WNS and other wildlife diseases with less obvious human impacts in a more holistic way.

KEYWORDS:

• White-nose syndrome
• endangered species act
• political ecology
• lock-ins

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Amy A. Quark and the studies’ participants who took the time out of their schedules to read over earlier drafts of the manuscript. All errors and claims are of course the responsibility of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. When first discovered, the fungus was scientifically referred to as Geomyces destructans.

2. We recognize that justifying the focus of this manuscript on the economic importance and value of bats is a bit ironic. As many of our informants noted, bats have intrinsic value and are distinctly unique mammals. However, given the anthropocentric nature of the discipline of sociology, we highlight their value to human populations here.

3. Bats in Europe are thought to have evolved a resistance to P. destructans and do not suffer from WNS even when the fungus is present on their bodies or in their caves (Blehert et al. 2009).

Additional information

Funding

The research for this paper was funded by the William & Mary Environment & Sustainability Program Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship.

Notes on contributors

Jordan Hadlock

Jordan Hadlock is a student in Department of Sociology and the Environment & Sustainability Program at William & Mary. They have future career and research aspirations in conservation and social and environmental justice.

Brent Z. Kaup

Brent Z. Kaup is a Professor of Sociology at William & Mary. His research focuses on the links between finance, landscape change, and infectious disease.