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Apoznański G, Tuff F, Carr A, Rachwald A, Marszałek E, Marszałek T, Błesznowska J, Kokurewicz T. Absence of lunar phobia in European swarming vespertilionid bats. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2675. [PMID: 38302685 PMCID: PMC10834490 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53281-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
"Lunar phobia" in bats has been widely discussed since its description in tropical bats in 1978. The phenomenon has been frequently contested and supported and was first reported in European bats in 2020. Our study seeks to clarify the debate by describing the relationship between the activity of selected swarming vespertilionid bats (Family: Vespertilionidae) and moonlight levels. To verify a potential connection to the latter, a swarming dataset was analysed in respect of estimated moonlight illumination. Moonlight estimates were based on geographical location and several lunar parameters, to accurately characterise the non-linear relationship between moon phase and illumination (lux). The swarming data consisted of 32 netting and 14 echolocation recording sessions collected between August and October 2014 and 2015. Our data included 3,265 netted bats from 13 species and 15,919 bat calls from 10 confirmed species. Data was collected at the large Central European hibernation/swarming site - Natura 2000 PLH080003 "Nietoperek" in western Poland (N 52.394400, E 15.480600). Generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs) determined insignificant relationships between bats and moonlight illumination. Our analysis confirms an absence of impact of moonlight intensity on swarming bats and thereby rejects the lunar phobia phenomena in at least six insectivorous bat species (Myotis myotis, M. daubentonii, M. nattereri, M. bechsteinii, Barbastella barbastellus, Plecotus auritus) swarming in the autumn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grzegorz Apoznański
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Paleontology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
| | | | - Andrew Carr
- Forest Ecology Department, Forest Research Institute, Sękocin Stary, Raszyn, Poland
| | - Alek Rachwald
- Forest Ecology Department, Forest Research Institute, Sękocin Stary, Raszyn, Poland
| | - Ewa Marszałek
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Paleontology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Tomasz Marszałek
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Paleontology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Justyna Błesznowska
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Paleontology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Tomasz Kokurewicz
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Paleontology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
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Asghar A, Imran HM, Bano N, Maalik S, Mushtaq S, Hussain A, Varjani S, Aleya L, Iqbal HMN, Bilal M. SARS-COV-2/COVID-19: scenario, epidemiology, adaptive mutations, and environmental factors. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 29:69117-69136. [PMID: 35947257 PMCID: PMC9363873 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-22333-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic of 2019 has already exerted an enormous impact. For over a year, the worldwide pandemic has ravaged the whole globe, with approximately 250 million verified human infection cases and a mortality rate surpassing 4 million. While the genetic makeup of the related pathogen (SARS-CoV-2) was identified, many unknown facets remain a mystery, comprising the virus's origin and evolutionary trend. There were many rumors that SARS-CoV-2 was human-borne and its evolution was predicted many years ago, but scientific investigation proved them wrong and concluded that bats might be the origin of SARS-CoV-2 and pangolins act as intermediary species to transmit the virus from bats to humans. Airborne droplets were found to be the leading cause of human-to-human transmission of this virus, but later studies showed that contaminated surfaces and other environmental factors are also involved in its transmission. The evolution of different SARS-CoV-2 variants worsens the condition and has become a challenge to overcome this pandemic. The emergence of COVID-19 is still a mystery, and scientists are unable to explain the exact origin of SARS-CoV-2. This review sheds light on the possible origin of SARS-CoV-2, its transmission, and the key factors that worsen the situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asma Asghar
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Hafiz Muhammad Imran
- Department of Biochemistry, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Naheed Bano
- Department of Fisheries & Aquaculture, MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan
| | - Sadia Maalik
- Department of Zoology, Government College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
| | - Sajida Mushtaq
- Department of Zoology, Government College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
| | - Asim Hussain
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Sunita Varjani
- Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gandhinagar, 382 010, Gujarat, India
| | - Lotfi Aleya
- Chrono-Environment Laboratory, UMR CNRS 6249, Bourgogne Franche-Comté University, Besançon, France
| | - Hafiz M N Iqbal
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, 64849, Monterrey, Mexico
| | - Muhammad Bilal
- School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an, 223003, China.
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Tena E, Tellería JL. Modelling the distribution of bat activity areas for conservation in a Mediterranean mountain range. Anim Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elena Tena
- Departamento de Biodiversidad Ecología y Evolución Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid Spain
| | - José Luis Tellería
- Departamento de Biodiversidad Ecología y Evolución Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid Spain
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