Widespread chytrid infection across frogs in the Peruvian Amazon suggests critical role for low elevation in pathogen spread and persistence.

ABSTRACT: Outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases are becoming more frequent as climate changes wildlife communities at unprecedented rates, driving population declines and raising concerns for species conservation. One critical disease is the global pandemic of chytridiomycosis in frogs, which can be caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Although there is clear evidence for Bd-induced mortality across high-elevation frog communities, little attention is given to the role of lowlands in Bd's persistence and spread because low elevations are assumed to be too warm to harbor significant levels of Bd. Here, we report widespread Bd infection across 80 frog species from three sites in the lowland Peruvian Amazon, an area with no documented Bd-related amphibian declines. Des

SUBMITTER: Russell ID 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6795419 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature