| robust calling performance in frogs infected by a deadly fungal pathogen. | reproduction is an energetically costly behavior for many organisms, including species with mating systems in which males call to attract females. in these species, calling males can often attract more females by displaying more often, with higher intensity, or at certain frequencies. male frogs attract females almost exclusively by calling, and we know little about how pathogens, including the globally devastating fungus, batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, influence calling effort and call traits. ... | 2016 | 27547369 |
| endemicity of chytridiomycosis features pathogen overdispersion. | pathogens can be critical drivers of the abundance and distribution of wild animal populations. the presence of an overdispersed pathogen load distribution between hosts (where few hosts harbour heavy parasite burdens and light infections are common) can have an important stabilizing effect on host-pathogen dynamics where infection intensity determines pathogenicity. this may potentially lead to endemicity of an introduced pathogen rather than extirpation of the host and/or pathogen. overdispers ... | 2016 | 26847143 |
| natural disturbance reduces disease risk in endangered rainforest frog populations. | natural disturbances can drive disease dynamics in animal populations by altering the microclimates experienced by hosts and their pathogens. many pathogens are highly sensitive to temperature and moisture, and therefore small changes in habitat structure can alter the microclimate in ways that increase or decrease infection prevalence and intensity in host populations. here we show that a reduction of rainforest canopy cover caused by a severe tropical cyclone decreased the risk of endangered r ... | 2015 | 26294048 |
| infection dynamics in frog populations with different histories of decline caused by a deadly disease. | pathogens can drive host population dynamics. chytridiomycosis is a fungal disease of amphibians that is caused by the fungus batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd). this pathogen has caused declines and extinctions in some host species whereas other host species coexist with bd without suffering declines. in the early 1990s, bd extirpated populations of the endangered common mistfrog, litoria rheocola, at high-elevation sites, while populations of the species persisted at low-elevation sites. toda ... | 2015 | 26293680 |
| condition-dependent reproductive effort in frogs infected by a widespread pathogen. | to minimize the negative effects of an infection on fitness, hosts can respond adaptively by altering their reproductive effort or by adjusting their timing of reproduction. we studied effects of the pathogenic fungus batrachochytrium dendrobatidis on the probability of calling in a stream-breeding rainforest frog (litoria rheocola). in uninfected frogs, calling probability was relatively constant across seasons and body conditions, but in infected frogs, calling probability differed among seaso ... | 2015 | 26063847 |
| seasonal ecology and behavior of an endangered rainforest frog (litoria rheocola) threatened by disease. | one of the most devastating wildlife diseases ever recorded is chytridiomycosis, a recently emerged amphibian disease that is caused by the chytrid fungus batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. understanding, predicting, and managing the impacts of chytridiomycosis on any amphibian species will require detailed information on its ecology and behavior because this pathogen is transmitted by contact with water or other individuals, and pathogen growth rates are thermally sensitive. the common mistfrog (l ... | 2015 | 25993520 |
| host-specific thermal profiles affect fitness of a widespread pathogen. | host behavior can interact with environmental context to influence outcomes of pathogen exposure and the impact of disease on species and populations. determining whether the thermal behaviors of individual species influence susceptibility to disease can help enhance our ability to explain and predict how and when disease outbreaks are likely to occur. the widespread disease chytridiomycosis (caused by the fungal pathogen batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, bd) often has species-specific impacts on ... | 2014 | 25505533 |
| cool temperatures reduce antifungal activity of symbiotic bacteria of threatened amphibians--implications for disease management and patterns of decline. | chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd), is a widespread disease of amphibians responsible for population declines and extinctions. some bacteria from amphibians' skins produce antimicrobial substances active against bd. supplementing populations of these cutaneous antifungal bacteria might help manage chytridiomycosis in wild amphibians. however, the activity of protective bacteria may depend upon environmental conditions. biocontrol of bd in nature thus requi ... | 2014 | 24941262 |
| chytridiomycosis and seasonal mortality of tropical stream-associated frogs 15 years after introduction of batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. | assessing the effects of diseases on wildlife populations can be difficult in the absence of observed mortalities, but it is crucial for threat assessment and conservation. we performed an intensive capture-mark-recapture study across seasons and years to investigate the effect of chytridiomycosis on demographics in 2 populations of the threatened common mist frog (litoria rheocola) in the lowland wet tropics of queensland, australia. infection prevalence was the best predictor for apparent surv ... | 2013 | 23678872 |
| elevation, temperature, and aquatic connectivity all influence the infection dynamics of the amphibian chytrid fungus in adult frogs. | infectious diseases can cause population declines and even extinctions. the amphibian chytrid fungus, batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd), has caused population declines and extinctions in amphibians on most continents. in the tropics, research on the dynamics of this disease has focused on amphibian populations in mountainous areas. in most of these areas, high and low elevation sites are connected by an assemblage of streams that may transport the infectious stage of the pathogen from high to ... | 2013 | 24324786 |