DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txqb
title: Data from: Drivers of population dynamics of at-risk populations change with pathogen arrival

description: Successful wildlife conservation in an era of global change requires
 understanding determinants of species population growth. However,
 when populations are faced with novel stressors, factors
 associated with healthy populations can change, necessitating
 shifting conservation strategies. For example, emerging
 infectious diseases can cause conditions previously beneficial to host
 populations to increase disease impacts. Here, we paired
 a population dataset of 265 colonies of the federally endangered
 Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) with 50.7 logger-years of
 environmental data to explore factors that affected colony response
 to white-nose syndrome (WNS), an emerging fungal disease. We
 found variation in colony responses to WNS, ranging from
 extirpation to stabilization. The severity of WNS impacts was associated
 with hibernaculum temperature, as colonies of cold hibernacula declined
 more severely than those in relatively warm hibernacula, an
 association that arose following pathogen emergence.
 Interestingly, this association was opposite that of a sympatric bat
 species, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), illustrating
 that environmental dependence of disease can vary by species in a
 multi-host community. Simulating future colony dynamics suggests that
 most extirpations have already occurred, as the pathogen has been
 present for several years in most colonies, and that relatively
 small colonies are more susceptible to extirpation. Overall, this
 study illustrates that emerging infectious diseases can change
 the factors associated with host population growth, including
 through novel environmental associations that vary by host
 species. Consideration of these shifting associations and
 differences between impacted species will be essential to the conservation
 of host communities challenged by emerging infectious disease. 
description: # Data from: Drivers of population dynamics of at-risk populations change
 with pathogen arrival
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txqb](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txqb) This dataset contains population census data from 265 colonies of the Indiana bat (*Myotis sodalis*) impacted by white-nose syndrome. It additionally contains data on the temperature and humidity conditions of their hibernacula, information used to explore dynamic associations between environmental conditions and population response to pathogen invasion.  ## Description of the data and file structure The data used in the study is provided in a single .csv file entitled "data.csv." It contains yearly census and population growth data for each of the 265 Indiana bat colonies. Below is a description of the data contained in each column: * Site: a unique name randomly assigned to each hibernaculum containing an Indiana bat colony.  * State: U.S. state of colony. * County: county of colony. * Wyear: year census data was collected.  * Count: colony census value recorded in wyear.  * Epi_year: WNS epidemic year. Epidemic year 0 corresponds to year of detection of *P. destructans.* * Lambda: proportional population growth since previous year.  * Epi.phase: current epidemic phase of colony when census value was collected.  * Site.status: last knowm status of Indiana bat colony. * Mean.early.temp.global.celsius: mean early hibernation temperature in celsius recorded in hibernaculum. * Log.early.vpd.global.kilopascals: mean early hibernation vapor pressure deficit (log-transformed kilopascals) recorded in hibernaculum.  * Pre.wns.colony.size: most recent census value recorded prior to the detection of *P. destructans.* * Ext.sim.pre.count: most recent pre-WNS colony size values used in colony extirpation simulation. If no pre-WNS census data was available for a colony, its earliest post-WNS census value was used instead.  * Mylu.count: census value of little brown bats (*Myotis lucifugus*), if available.  Values of NA in mean.ealry.temp.global.celsius or log.early.vpd.global.kilopascals indicate that environmental data loggers were not deployed in those hibernacula and environmental data is therefore unavailable. Values of NA in pre.wns.colony.size or ext.sim.pre.count indicate that no colony census data was available prior to the detection of WNS in the colony or shortly thereafter, respectively. Values of NA in mylu.count indicate that no census data was available for the *Myotis lucifugus* population in the hibernaculum in the corresponding survey year.