Disentangling host,pathogen, and environmental determinants of a recently emerged wildlife disease: lessons from the first 15 years of amphibian chytridiomycosis research |
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| Authors: | Timothy Y. James L. Felipe Toledo Dennis Rödder Domingos da Silva Leite Anat M. Belasen Clarisse M. Betancourt‐Román Thomas S. Jenkinson Claudio Soto‐Azat Carolina Lambertini Ana V. Longo Joice Ruggeri James P. Collins Patricia A. Burrowes Karen R. Lips Kelly R. Zamudio Joyce E. Longcore |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;2. Laboratório de História Natural de Anfíbios Brasileiros (LaHNAB), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, S?o Paulo, Brazil;3. Section 4. of Herpetology, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany;5. Laboratório de Antígenos Bacterianos II, Departamento de Genética, Evolu??o e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, S?o Paulo, Brazil;6. Centro de Investigación para la Sustentabilidad, Facultad de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile;7. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York;8. Departamento de Zoologia, Laboratório de Anfíbios e Répteis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biologia, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;9. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona;10. Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico;11. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland;12. School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine |
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| Abstract: | The amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which affects species across all continents, recently emerged as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Yet, many aspects of the basic biology and epidemiology of the pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), are still unknown, such as when and from where did Bd emerge and what is its true ecological niche? Here, we review the ecology and evolution of Bd in the Americas and highlight controversies that make this disease so enigmatic. We explore factors associated with variance in severity of epizootics focusing on the disease triangle of host susceptibility, pathogen virulence, and environment. Reevaluating the causes of the panzootic is timely given the wealth of data on Bd prevalence across hosts and communities and the recent discoveries suggesting co‐evolutionary potential of hosts and Bd. We generate a new species distribution model for Bd in the Americas based on over 30,000 records and suggest a novel future research agenda. Instead of focusing on pathogen “hot spots,” we need to identify pathogen “cold spots” so that we can better understand what limits the pathogen''s distribution. Finally, we introduce the concept of “the Ghost of Epizootics Past” to discuss expected patterns in postepizootic host communities. |
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| Keywords: | Amphibian chytrid Emerging infectious disease fungi immunogenetics species distribution model virulence |
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