More Like this

1. One Health Approach to Globalizing, Accelerating, and Focusing Amphibian and Reptile Disease Research-Reflections and Opinions from the First Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease Conference.

   Gray MJ, Ossiboff RJ (October 2023, Emerge Infect Dis)
2. Disease Update from the Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease Conference and the World Congress of Herpetology, Kuching, Malaysia, August 2024.

   Olson, D H; Palmisano, J; Evans, PM; Ronnenberg, KL; Christman, MR; Goodman, RW; Gray, MJ; Martel, A; Pasmans, F (December 2024, Herpetological review)
3. Phototank setup and focus stack imaging method for reptile and amphibian specimens (Amphibia, Reptilia)

   https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1134.96103  

   Braker, Emily M. (December 2022, ZooKeys)

   Fluid-preserved reptile and amphibian specimens are challenging to photograph with traditional methods due to their complex three-dimensional forms and reflective surfaces when removed from solution. An effective approach to counteract these issues involves combining focus stack photography with the use of a photo immersion tank. Imaging specimens beneath a layer of preservative fluid eliminates glare and risk of specimen desiccation, while focus stacking produces sharp detail through merging multiple photographs taken at successive focal steps to create a composite image with an extended depth of field. This paper describes the wet imaging components and focus stack photography workflow developed while conducting a large-scale digitization project for targeted reptile and amphibian specimens housed in the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History Herpetology Collection. This methodology can be implemented in other collections settings and adapted for use with fluid-preserved specimen types across the Tree of Life to generate high-quality, taxonomically informative images for use in documenting biodiversity, remote examination of fine traits, inclusion in publications, and educational applications. 

   more » « less
4. Skin microbiome disturbance linked to drought‐associated amphibian disease

   https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14372  

   Buttimer, Shannon; Moura‐Campos, Diego; Greenspan, Sasha E.; Neely, Wesley J.; Ferrante, Lucas; Toledo, Luís Felipe; Becker, C. Guilherme (January 2024, Ecology Letters)

   Abstract The onset of global climate change has led to abnormal rainfall patterns, disrupting associations between wildlife and their symbiotic microorganisms. We monitored a population of pumpkin toadlets and their skin bacteria in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest during a drought. Given the recognized ability of some amphibian skin bacteria to inhibit the widespread fungal pathogenBatrachochytrium dendrobatidis(Bd), we investigated links between skin microbiome health, susceptibility to Bd and host mortality during a die‐off event. We found that rainfall deficit was an indirect predictor of Bd loads through microbiome disruption, while its direct effect on Bd was weak. The microbiome was characterized by fewer putative Bd‐inhibitory bacteria following the drought, which points to a one‐month lagged effect of drought on the microbiome that may have increased toadlet susceptibility to Bd. Our study underscores the capacity of rainfall variability to disturb complex host–microbiome interactions and alter wildlife disease dynamics. 

   more » « less
5. An interaction between climate change and infectious disease drove widespread amphibian declines

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14489  

   Cohen, Jeremy M.; Civitello, David J.; Venesky, Matthew D.; McMahon, Taegan A.; Rohr, Jason R. (November 2018, Global Change Biology)

   Abstract Climate change might drive species declines by altering species interactions, such as host–parasite interactions. However, few studies have combined experiments, field data, and historical climate records to provide evidence that an interaction between climate change and disease caused any host declines. A recently proposed hypothesis, thethermal mismatch hypothesis, could identify host species that are vulnerable to disease under climate change because it predicts that cool‐ and warm‐adapted hosts should be vulnerable to disease at unusually warm and cool temperatures, respectively. Here, we conduct experiments onAtelopus zeteki, a critically endangered, captively bred frog that prefers relatively cool temperatures, and show that frogs have high pathogen loads and high mortality rates only when exposed to a combination of the pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) and high temperatures, as predicted by thethermal mismatch hypothesis. Further, we tested various hypotheses to explain recent declines experienced by species in the amphibian genusAtelopusthat are thought to be associated withB. dendrobatidisand reveal that these declines are best explained by thethermal mismatch hypothesis. As in our experiments, only the combination of rapid increases in temperature and infectious disease could account for the patterns of declines, especially in species adapted to relatively cool environments. After combining experiments on declining hosts with spatiotemporal patterns in the field, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that widespread species declines, including possible extinctions, have been driven by an interaction between increasing temperatures and infectious disease. Moreover, our findings suggest that hosts adapted to relatively cool conditions will be most vulnerable to the combination of increases in mean temperature and emerging infectious diseases. 

   more » « less