AP Biology Petey
DeJoy
Current Events 9/26/12
Works Cited
Gorman, James. "Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer." New York Times. N.p., 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/science/in-tennessee-building-a-bat-cave-to-battle-a-plague.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=science>.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/science/in-tennessee-building-a-bat-cave-to-battle-a-plague.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=science
Building
a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer
This
article discusses a pernicious disease that is killing many bats across
America. The white noise syndrome is a devastating fungal infection that takes
out hibernating bats by the millions. When they get the disease, which was
first noticed in 2006, they get a telltale fuzzy, white growth on their
muzzles. As a preventative act, Cory Holliday has recently decided to build a
man-made cave that is 80 feet long and 16 feet wide, with 11-foot ceilings. A
fairly large risk, Holliday has gambled 300,000 dollars that his plan will
work. By building this cave relatively close to a large cave where the bats
currently hibernate, he is able to monitor them through video surveillance and
clean the cave every year in order to prevent the fungus from spreading. If his
technique works, it will enable the same process to be done to other areas in
order to conserve the lives of the bats.
Bats
seem relatively unimportant, because they have relatively little direct
influence on our lives. So why make such an effort to save them? As it turns
out, bats eat millions of insects, keeping them out of our way. If the bats
were to die off, the cost of pesticides to farmers would increase by more than
a billion dollars. Therefore, the money being spent to save them is an
investment to save money in the future, and is economically logical.
The
article is well written, but it changes subject a few times. The main point of
the article is that this man, Cory Holliday, is making an effort to save the
bats through his production of an artificial cave. However, it digresses a
little bit into the field of zoology and discusses bats and their immunity to
some diseases and weakness to others. It should stay on one track and not
change the subject.
The review of the article “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer” properly explained the reasoning behind building a new cave for bats to hibernate in. Many people may not understand the importance of constructing a 300,000-dollar cave to house a population of bats. In this review, many justifications were outlined, such as explaining the fungal disease that was killing off millions of bats and then clarifying how the deaths of bats would cost farmers over a billion dollars. Also, the reviewer nicely explained how a new cave would prevent the bats from obtaining the deadly fungal disease. It would seem reasonable for scientists to clean out natural bat caves, but they have such complex cave networks that it would be hard to fully clean them. The review then further clarified that the cave could then be monitored as well through a video surveillance. Lastly, the reviewer made a good point that the article did jump around a lot in subjects. I do believe, however, that it was necessary, for there was a lot of background information that needed to be explained.
ReplyDeleteThe review could have mentioned where the cave building was taking place. It is important to note this fact, for Tennessee is home to three out of the nine caves in which the entire species of gray bats hibernate. Therefore, these bats are living in very close quarters, making the disease very easy to spread. This is significant, since, as Mr. Holliday (the scientist in charge of building the cave) says, “This is a species that could wink out in a few years.” Also, it should be added that the same fungus is found in Europe, yet the death rate of European bats is much lower. Scientists, therefore, are trying to study these European bats to find if they have some trait that makes them immune to the fungus, or that at least makes the symptoms less severe.
I was impressed by the fact that an entire species of bats hibernates in only nine caves. The total number of gray bats is 270,000, and yet they fit into nine caves when there is a total of 10,000 caves in the state of Tennessee.
This is a very interesting article chosen by Petey. The review he posted, explained exactly why a man named Cory Holliday built a cave for bats to hibernate in. As in any normal human beings mind, questions might pop up asking why it was so important to construct a 300,000 dollar cave to be home to a large group of bats. What I like about this article review is how it starts off describing this disease which bats caught on to. The review explains the symptoms of this disease, when the disease was first noticed, and how it can be prevented. This review also makes it clear how exactly Cory is monitoring his man made cave, which is by building the cave relatively close to where the bats live, and he watches them through video surveillance. Another aspect of this review that was presented well was why exactly this brave man is spending all his time and money to save these bats. The review mentions that bats are vitally important, because they eat many insects, and without bats, the cost of pesticides to farmers could increase by the billions. This review could have been made better by how exactly Cory is constructing his cave, for that is a little unclear to me. By describing this cave, the reader could become visually connected through this description. Another way the review could have been improved would be through describing how these bats got this disease, and how this cave is helping to prevent them from catching it. Lastly, I was definitely impressed by the impact that one man can do on a species, and also the impact that bats have on generations to come.
ReplyDeleteThe review of the article, “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer,” accurately described the white nose syndrome that is killing millions of bats across America. The article mentions that since there are a small number of caves that millions of bats hibernate in every year, building a new, monitored, cave for the bats to hibernate in is a good start to an efficient way of saving the lives of many bats.
ReplyDeleteThe reviewer mentions that the new cave will be close to a large cave where bats currently hibernate and will be cleaned and monitored. This is so the deadly fungal disease can be kept from spreading. A good point made in the article was that of the bats seeming relatively unimportant in the lives of the everyday human. The fact that these bats eat millions of insects saves farmers a great amount of money. It was mentioned that the cost of pesticides would increase immensely after the deaths of the bats. This justifies the 300,000-dollar investment toward saving the lives of the bats.
The reviewer explained that the white nose syndrome is killing bats across America, but could have mentioned that many of the species of bats that do not hibernate were not affected. The major reason for the deaths of the bats being that the fungus was new to the United States could have also been mentioned.
Learning how the new cave can protect the bats and try and prevent the disease from spreading impressed me. The fact this disease impacted the population of the bats immensely was really surprising.
The review of “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer” was very clear of how dangerous white nose syndrome is to bats, especially in Tennessee and how this disease can eventually become a huge problem for humans as well as the endangered bats in the United States. These bats eat insects and if the bat death rate keeps rising, the cost to famers in the increase use of pesticides would be over a billion dollars.
ReplyDeleteIt is also important to note how expensive it is to try and save these bats. Over 300,000 dollars has been raised in order for Holliday to replicate the caves and clean out the already inhabited bat caves of Tennessee in hopes of clearing the fungus out and saving the bat population. The review was clear on how the simulated cave process should run.
The article could have touched more on just how risky this procedure is. First it is very costly and it could very well fail. By creating a replica of the bat cave, Holiday hoped that the bats would hibernate in this new home so that he could clean out the fungus infected cave, but the bats could not respond to the simulated cave and instead be without a home and possibly freeze for the winter or be with a fungus infected home where they could die anyway. Bats that do not hibernate were not affected, but bats that hibernate also have a low metabolism and body temperature. The bats sleeping arrangements are very close together, which also causes the disease to spread more rapidly.
Another thing of importance is that the fungus originated in Europe where the bats have not had such a high mortality rate. The reason is still under examination but it could be a certain gene involved in the European bat immunity.
What I found most interesting was how new this disease is to the United States and how quickly it spread and how many bats have died. “The disease, for which there is no treatment and no cure, was first spotted in New York in 2006. It spread to New England and has steadily moved south and west, crossing the Mississippi and just recently reaching Alabama. More than five million bats have died.”
I thought this review of “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer” was presented very well. I mainly thought that this review was very good because it adequately summed up the article. It included the important facts that we needed to know to understand what the article is about. The review explained what the disease does to bats and how it spreads. Another part of the review I enjoyed was the second paragraph. I appreciated the fact that the review acknowledged that fact that bats seem very unimportant to people. By acknowledging that fact I thought the review was able to change peoples’ opinions and educate people about the importance of bats. I also agreed with the commentary the review had about the writing. It would have been better if the article stuck with a more central message.
ReplyDeleteI thought the review could have mentioned more about the different studies that have been taking place. By including this it would show readers that many are concerned about the bats. Also, the review could have included the facts about where scientists think this disease originated from and could have gone a little more in depth about that part.
Overall I was surprised to learn that people are very concerned about bats and their well-being. I would have never expected that someone was building a cave specially designed to monitor and improve bats’ lives.
The review written by Petey Dejoy on “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer” was very well presented. One specific idea that was well presented was the whole reasoning behind the building of the quite expensive bat cave. This reasoning was that the bats were in danger of the disease and one way to prevent it would be to build this cave that would be completely sterile and free of bacteria causing “The White Noise Syndrome.” Another idea that was well presented was the idea that Cory Holliday was taking a huge economic risk in the building of the cave, as he does not know if the $300,000 dollars he put into the cave would be well spent. A third idea that was well presented was the idea that bats are very important to humans, though they may seem to have no correlation. For example, Petey describes how bats consume large amounts of insects, so were the bats to become extinct due to the white noise syndrome, there would be an incredible rise in the amount of money farmers would have to pay for pesticides to keep insects away from their crops. One suggestion I could make to enhance the quality of the review would be that Petey should describe the significance of the man-made cave more so the reader gets a better understanding of what Holliday is attempting to do. Also, I would describe if this disease is centrally located in one specific area, or if it has become a national or even global threat because I was a little unclear as to the severity of the effect that the disease would have on the bats. Ultimately I was very impressed by reading the article and the review because it is very moving how one man can make such a difference that would have serious economical benefits for our countries farmers.
ReplyDeletePetey’s article review of “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer,” establishes a clear fact base underlying a "white nose syndrome" that is causing the deaths of millions of hibernating bats. The review presents the issue of the fungal infection with necessary context describing the origin and evolution of the devastating disease. This framework provides the reader with an easy to read and engaging review. I think Petey made an excellent case for the high stakes gamble of a $300,000 investment to save the bat population. The review also familiarizes the reader with a legitimate problem that has significant consequences beyond the survival of bats. The potential for a solution is intriguing. Lastly, the review provides relevant information supporting the existence of bats in our ecosystem, eliminating millions of pesty, potentially harmful, insects. I believe these facts validate the worthiness and overall significance of the article.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this review provides a solid analysis of the white nose syndrome that is devastating the bat population, I believe the reviewer may have enhanced our understanding of the issue by providing even more context on the environmental causes of the fungus and specifically defining a bat’s muzzle. I had to look up the term in order to understand exactly where this “white growth,” is located on an ordinary bat. I also believe some background on Cory Holliday could provide the reader with a general idea of his reasoning for getting involved in such a bizarre, but admirable cause, to save these night-wandering creatures.
From reading this review on, “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer,” I am surprised by how significant bats truly are to our day to day existence. We rarely see bats, and they are rarely viewed favorably by humans. I am also baffled by the fact that pesticide costs could possibly, “increase by more than a billion dollars,” to protect farmer crops without the natural consumption by bats. Who would have known that a bat would eat up to 10,000 mosquitoes a night!
Petey's review of the article, "Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer", was fascinating and a refreshing topic to hear about. Petey did an excellent job summarizing the article and describing the devastating disease, white nose syndrome, and its affect on millions of hibernating bats. He mentioned why scientist were invested in finding out the symptoms and a cure to this disease as bats are essential to our ecosystem and kill thousands of insects daily. Lastly he mentioned the logistics of how Cory planned to identify the cause and then prevent the further spread of the white nose syndrome. Overall, Petey included all the important points from the article.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Petey did an adequate job of summarizing the article, I wish he would have included points regarding how scientist were going to study the proteins made during hibernation to see how the immune system differs from hibernating to non-hibernating bats. Also, I think Petey could have given background on Cory, and his field of study, so we could have a better understanding as to why his approach to saving hibernating bats was legitimate.
I think this article was really cool because it was highly related to environmental science. Having taken APES last year i have noticed how relevant environmental science is. It brought to light how a seemingly useless creature to us, bats, have a large role in our ecosystem; that is killing mosquitos and reducing our need, and especially farmer's financial need, to eliminate them.
The review of the article, “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer” was a very well written review. Petey summarized the article very well and gave enough information for a reader to understand what the article was about. He also did a good job in explaining why this was an important topic. I did not realize that bats were important to everyone and that they really do need help. I think that most people do not realize how important bats are and this paragraph helped to show how important bats really are. I also liked how Petey explained the consequences of not helping the bats who were infected by the disease. I thought that this was helpful because it showed the reader why the bats need to be helped and why this cave must be built.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Petey did a very good job on the review there are two aspects he could have improved. He could have gone into more detail about how scientists think the disease was caused and all the research the scientists did on the bats. Petey also could have spoken about how fungi is typically not a problem to mammals. Fungi can usually be killed with bleach but once it is inside an animal it becomes hard to treat and there really are no treatment options.
I learned many interesting things from reading this article and review. One interesting thing I learned was the importance of bats. I had no idea that bats were so important to humans. I also did not realize that bats were suffering from this fungi and I felt that this article and review really helped to raise awareness about the bats.
Maddy Foley 9/28/12
ReplyDeleteAP Biology Comment on Blog
I read the review by Petey DeJoy on the “Building a Bat Cave to Battle a Killer.” The review is well organized into paragraphs making the topic more understandable by the reader. In the first paragraph the reviewer discussed the situation, providing various information on the particular epidemic bats are facing, the construction of a man made bat cave and the various efforts and costs that going into the construction. In the second paragraph, the reviewer analyzed the construction of the “bat cave” providing reasons for the seemingly strange effort to save the lives of the bats. For a person like myself, who had no knowledge on the subject this structural format provided me with an understanding of the background context and then further information through an analysis of the event. Secondly, the analysis in the review provided various justifications behind the man-made bat cave. While 300,000 dollars is being spent by Cory Holliday on the construction of the cave, billions more is being saved on pesticides by farmers, who rely largely on bats to lower this cost through their diet of various insects. The cave would provide a monitored, clean structure where bats could reside without the threat of the deadly fungus that is infecting unclean hibernating caves. I think lastly, the reviewer was good at including the overall necessary pieces of information without flooding the review with too much. The reviewer included the points on the structure and accessibility of the cave, the technology going into the cave, the “white nose” disease and the importance of preserving the bat species. Since these points were covered, I think the review was overall, a good reflection on the article. I think this review could have used more detailing the background information. For example, I was confused on who Cory Holliday was and why he was concerned with the bat epidemic. When reading the article I discovered he was the Nature Conservancy’s cave specialist in Tennessee. The review also could have included some information on Tennessee, which is a state with 10,000 bat caves and 16 different species of bats. The state is also includes three of the nine bat caves of the endangered gray bats. I do not think the review was clear at expressing the background of the funding and I was confused on the significance of Tennessee and Cory Holliday. The second flaw in the review I think was the minimum explanation on how the disease develops. While the reviewer does describe it as a fungus based disease, it does not include that its name is Geomyces destructans and that it is a soil fungus that thrives in the cold temperatures of caves where bats hibernate. Hibernating bats also have a lower metabolism and body temperature, and are packed together closely, therefore fostering the growth of the disease. The review overall was informative and packed with interesting facts. One particular interesting part of the review is the included fact that the cave will be 80 feet long and 16 feet wide, with 11-foot ceilings. The fact that a realistic cave can now be created by man, was completely shocking to me and really shows the leaps and bounds science is taking.
This review was very well presented, because of its coherent explanations of the symptoms and effects of white nose syndrome on bats, as well as the causes and effects of the disease on humans and its interesting critique of the article’s structure. The reviewer clearly described the disease’s appearance and how it is identified in bats, by the growth on their muzzles. This, in turn, was shown to be detrimental to humans, as the ecosystem would be thrown off balance and an extraordinarily large amount of insects would be present, therefore causing farmers to spend more money on pesticides. The reviewer also explained how the cave itself is a gamble for its makers, as they invested a substantial sum in its construction. Finally, I found the critique interesting because, when I read the article, I did not feel the same way. I thought that the author was explaining the science behind white nose syndrome, but the reviewer explained the matter from a different point of view about the writing style that I found refreshing.
ReplyDeleteThe review could have been made better if it had explored more thoroughly the white nose syndrome’s effects on the ecosystem, as well as other conservation efforts that are being made to save the bats. Although the reviewer did explain about the insects, he could have speculated upon other contributions that bats make the ecosystem and the world at large, which would disappear if the bats did. He did not make this part of the review completely clear. Also, he did not explain what else is being done to save bats, nor that white nose syndrome has no medicine or cure, which is important because otherwise the bat cave would not have had to be built.
One fact that impressed me was that bats in Europe of the same species do not experience as devastating effects from white nose syndrome as do those in America. I would be interested to know why, such as if it is because of natural selection or because of some other reason.
Petey did a good job on reviewing this article. I enjoyed how he accurately described the white nose syndrome of bats. Petey paints a good picture in how this fungal infection has killed millions of bats and how to prevent the syndrome from spreading. This gives flow into him describing the main point of the article, which is how Cory Holliday built a $300,00 cave for bats. I also liked how Petey explained Cory Holliday’s whole project, in making an 80 feet by 16 feet by 11 feet cave for bats to live in, being safe from the white nose syndrome. With this cave, Holliday has the intention of saving many bats from the white nose syndrome and setting the example for how to save bats, so others can make similar caves. In this article, which, according to Petey, jumps from subject to subject, it is nice to see that Petey was able stick to the main point of Holliday making this cave, while still including vital information to the common person who knows nothing about bats or the white nose syndrome.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Petey did a great job in reviewing this article, he could have made a few adjustments. He only mentions how Holliday “gambled” $300,000 on this bat cave, but it would have been interesting to read about how likely, or unlikely this plan will work, and if anybody else has done anything close to what Holliday is attempting. This would give the reader a better idea of how risky this plan is, and if it is reasonable enough to become dependent on in saving bats from the white nose syndrome. Also, Petey could have included some of Cory Holliday’s background, like how he came to this point of trying to save these bats, what he does for a living, and so on. The article is about what how he is saving these bats, so some background information seems needed.
I was astounded by Petey’s review when he explained the importance of saving these bats, and how spending money to save them actually is an investment. Once reading how bats kill millions of insects, and how farmers would have to spend over a billion dollars in pesticides, it became clear how spending $300,00 on a single cave to save bats is actually a smart move. Cory Holliday may be doing this mainly to save bats rather than save money, but bats’ affect on farmers’ money is very intriguing.