TY - JOUR
T1 - Widespread co-occurrence of virulent pathogens within California amphibian communities
AU - Hoverman, Jason T.
AU - Mihaljevic, Joseph R.
AU - Richgels, Katherine L.D.
AU - Kerby, Jacob L.
AU - Johnson, Pieter T.J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by the grants from NSF (DEB-0553768, MRI-0923419) and a fellowship from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. We thank S. Paull,
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, ranaviruses, and trematodes (Ribeiroia ondatrae and echinostomes) are highly virulent pathogens known to infect amphibians, yet the extent to which they cooccur within amphibian communities remains poorly understood. Using field surveillance of 85 wetlands in the East Bay region of California, USA, we found that 68% of wetlands had ≥2 pathogens and 36% had ≥3 pathogens. Wetlands with high pathogen species richness also tended to cluster spatially. Our results underscore the need for greater integration of multiple pathogens and their interactions into amphibian disease research and conservation efforts.
AB - The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, ranaviruses, and trematodes (Ribeiroia ondatrae and echinostomes) are highly virulent pathogens known to infect amphibians, yet the extent to which they cooccur within amphibian communities remains poorly understood. Using field surveillance of 85 wetlands in the East Bay region of California, USA, we found that 68% of wetlands had ≥2 pathogens and 36% had ≥3 pathogens. Wetlands with high pathogen species richness also tended to cluster spatially. Our results underscore the need for greater integration of multiple pathogens and their interactions into amphibian disease research and conservation efforts.
KW - Amphibian decline
KW - Amphibian malformations
KW - Chytridiomycosis
KW - Coinfection
KW - Concomitant infection
KW - Disease ecology
KW - Emerging infectious disease
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U2 - 10.1007/s10393-012-0778-2
DO - 10.1007/s10393-012-0778-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 22766887
AN - SCOPUS:84871920689
SN - 1612-9202
VL - 9
SP - 288
EP - 292
JO - EcoHealth
JF - EcoHealth
IS - 3
ER -