Historical amphibian declines and extinctions in Brazil linked to chytridiomycosis.

ABSTRACT: The recent increase in emerging fungal diseases is causing unprecedented threats to biodiversity. The origin of spread of the frog-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a matter of continued debate. To date, the historical amphibian declines in Brazil could not be attributed to chytridiomycosis; the high diversity of hosts coupled with the presence of several Bd lineages predating the reported declines raised the hypothesis that a hypervirulent Bd genotype spread from Brazil to other continents causing the recent global amphibian crisis. We tested for a spatio-temporal overlap between Bd and areas of historical amphibian population declines and extinctions in Brazil. A spatio-temporal convergence between Bd and declines would suppor

SUBMITTER: Carvalho T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5310605 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature