Data from: Activity patterns during the mating season predict sex-biased infections in an emerging fungal disease
Data files
Jul 14, 2025 version files 5.23 MB
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df1.activity_rev1.csv
5.19 MB
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df2.infection_rev1.csv
38.79 KB
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README.md
4.14 KB
Abstract
Mating dynamics can govern species impacts from rapid global change by influencing population rates of growth and adaptation, as well as individual traits that affect mortality risks from novel pressures. Here, we examined sex differences in the activity of Myotis lucifugus during their mating season, which coincides with exposure to the lethal fungal pathogen (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) that causes white-nose syndrome. We expected differences in activity between sexes to modify seasonal P. destructans dynamics as the pathogen can replicate only at the cool temperatures at which bats hibernate. We used passive antenna systems installed at the entrances of hibernacula and PIT tags to characterize activity patterns of bats. We also measured pathogen loads on bats during the autumn mating and early hibernation periods to assess how infection changed according to host phenology. We found that females spent fewer days active during autumn, arrived after males, and were primarily active on the warmest nights. Males remained highly active throughout the mating season and later in autumn than females. Importantly, differences in phenology corresponded to higher pathogen loads on females during early hibernation as male activity, and thus warm body temperatures, inhibit pathogen growth. Differences in activity between sexes and in the transition from swarm to hibernation likely reflect males maximizing their mating opportunities while females conserve energy to meet the cost of spring migration and reproduction. More broadly, our results show how activity during the mating season and phenology can contribute to sex-biased impacts of a novel disease and highlight the value of understanding species’ mating systems to anticipate the impacts of environmental change.
Description of the data and file structure
The datasets contain field-collected activity and infection data from bats impacted by white-nose syndrome.
Description of the data and file structure
Data files used in the manuscript include:
- df1.activity_rev1.csv contains activity data during the mating season
- df2.infection_rev1.csv contains infection data
Variables:
Explanation of the columns found in the data files are provided below as ‘column name: applicable data frames, description:'
- pit_id: df1.activity, Individual PIT tag ID
- wyear2: df1.activity and df2.activity, Year of data collection
- pid.wy2: df1.activity, Combined PIT tag ID and year
- sex: df1.activity and df2.infection, Sex categorized by external morphology
- M = male
- F = female
- age: df1.activity, Age; all adults (A)
- init.det: df1.activity, Bat detected for the first time (=1) or previously detected (=0)
- last.det: df1.activity, Bat detected for the last time (=1) or detected on subsequent nights (=0)
- bat.pdate: df1.activity, Monthly date units adjusted for nocturnal cycles; substracted one day for activity that occurred between 12AM–7AM.
- Date transformations were also used for mindate and maxdate below.
- bat.pdate2: df1.activity, Monthly date units as in ‘bat.pdate’ above, then scaled to start at 0.
- mindate: df1.activity, First date (transformed as in bat.pdate) of detection
- mindate2: df1.activity, First date (transformed as in bat.pdate2) of detection
- maxdate: df1.activity, Last date (transformed as in bat.pdate) of detection
- maxdate2: df1.activity, Last date (transformed as in bat.pdate2) of detection
- detect: df1.activity, Bat not detected (=0) or detected (=1) in a night
- isa: df1.activity, Number of date intervals (3-day bins) since first detection,
- NA = not applicable, assigned to avoid duplicate interval designations across days occurring within the same interval or on dates bats were not detected
- wy2s.tag: df1.activity, Years since bat was tagged
- lead.tmin: df1.activity, Minimum temperature of the next date (degrees Celsius)
- bat.tavg: df1.activity, Mid-point environmental temperature (degrees Celsius)
- totnt.dets: df1.activity, Total number of detections in a night by bat,
- NA = not applicable for nights when the bats were not detected
- n.dates_cm: df1.activity, Cumulative number of dates a bat was detected
- site: df1.activity, Site name
- site.wy2: df1.activity and df2.infection, Combined site and year column
- mass: df1.activity, Mass of bats at capture (grams)
- NA = not available for bats that returned from a previous year
- lgdL2: df2.infection, log10(quantity of fungal DNA) in positive samples
- NA = fungal load data not available because bats were not infected or they were infected at levels below the limit of detection
- samp.seas: df2.infection, Season of sample collection;
- pre.hib = autumn swarm
- h.earl = early hibernation
- pdate2: df2.infection, Same as bat.pdate above
- med.maxdate: df2.infection, Median last date (transformed as in bat.pdate) of activity by site, year, sex
- NA = not available in first year of PIT tag system deployment or where last date of activity could not be assigned (not detected >=2 dates or juveniles)
- mean.maxdate: df2.infection, Mean last date (transformed as in bat.pdate) of activity by site, year, sex
- NA = not available in first year of PIT tag system deployment or where last date of activity could not be assigned (not detected >=2 dates or juveniles)
- maxdate: df2.infection, Individual last date (transformed as in bat.pdate) of activity
- NA = not available in first year of PIT tag system deployment or where last date of activity could not be determined (not detected >=2 dates or juveniles)
- maxdate2: df2.infection, Individual last date (transformed as in bat.pdate2) of activity
- NA = not available in first year of PIT tag system deployment or where last date of activity could not be determined (not detected >=2 dates or juveniles)