Fungal disease cluster in tropical terrestrial frogs predicted by low rainfall

Autor(es)

Moura-Campos, Diego ^{[1, 2]} ; Greenspan, Sasha E. ^[3] ; V. DiRenzo, Graziella ^[4] ; Neely, Wesley J. ^[3] ; Toledo, Luis Felipe ^{[1, 2]} ; Becker, C. Guilherme ^{[3, 1]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Programa Posgrad Ecol, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Biol Anim, Lab Hist Nat Anfibios Brasileiros LaHNAB, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Alabama, Dept Biol Sci, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 - USA

^[4] Penn State Univ, Dept Ecosyst Sci & Management, University Pk, PA 16802 - USA

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Biological Conservation; v. 261, SEP 2021.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Anthropogenic forces are increasing climate anomalies and disease pressure in tropical forests. Terrestrialbreeding amphibians, a diverse group of highly endemic tropical frogs, have been experiencing cryptic population declines and extinctions, most of which have been retrospectively linked to climate anomalies and the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). However, the spatiotemporal drivers of Bd infection in these species are unresolved. We tracked microhabitat conditions and Bd dynamics in terrestrial-breeding frogs in Brazil's Atlantic Forest over an annual cycle that coincided with a period of low rainfall compared to historical averages. An increase in Bd prevalence during the warm/wet season was attributable to pathogen spillover from co-occurring aquatic-breeding frogs. The deficit in rainfall compared to historical trends was the best predictor of spikes in Bd infection loads one month later and mortality among heavily infected frogs two months later. We suggest that hydrological stress may intensify seasonal pathogen amplification in direct-developing frogs, to an extent that may trigger localized disease clusters or potentially shift disease dynamics from enzootic to epizootic, even in areas with a relatively long history of host-pathogen coexistence. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 16/25358-3 - O fungo quitrídio no Brasil: da sua origem às suas consequências
• Beneficiário: Luis Felipe de Toledo Ramos Pereira
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 19/18335-5 - Transporte aéreo passivo de um patógeno letal para anfíbios em áreas de elevadas: aplicações práticas para conservação de UCs do estado de São Paulo
• Beneficiário: Luis Felipe de Toledo Ramos Pereira
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Regular