Journal article
Environmental Refuge from Disease-Driven Amphibian Extinction
R Puschendorf, CJ Hoskin, SD Cashins, K Mcdonald, LF Skerratt, J Vanderwal, RA Alford
Conservation Biology | WILEY | Published : 2011
Abstract
Species that are tolerant of broad environmental gradients may be less vulnerable to epizootic outbreaks of disease. Chytridriomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, has been linked to extirpations and extinctions of amphibian species in many regions. The pathogen thrives in cool, moist environments, and high amphibian mortality rates have commonly occurred during chytridiomycosis outbreaks in amphibian populations in high-elevation tropical rainforests. In Australia several high-elevation species, including the armored mist frog (Litoria lorica), which is designated as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), were believe..
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Awarded by National Geographic Society
Funding Acknowledgements
R.P. was supported by a scholarship from the Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, the Australian Department of the Environment and Water Resources and the Australian Research Council. C.J.H. was funded by the Australian Research Council. Funding for this project was provided by the Australian Department of the Environment and Water Resources, the Skyrail Foundation, and a Research and Exploration grant from the National Geographic Society (8608-09). A. Carnaval, K. Murray, and S. Garland made helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. S. Garland processed the diagnostic samples for the presence of the pathogen.