Long‐term monitoring of tropical alpine habitat change,Andean anurans,and chytrid fungus in the Cordillera Vilcanota,Peru: Results from a decade of study |
| |
Authors: | Tracie A. Seimon Karina Yager Kelsey Reider Amanda Delgado Preston Sowell Alfredo Tupayachi Bronwen Konecky Denise McAloose Stephan Halloy |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Wildlife Conservation Society, Zoological Health Program, Bronx, NY, USAAuthors contributed equally to this work.;2. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA;3. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA;4. Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Cusco, Peru;5. Ausangate Environmental LLC, Boulder, CO, USA;6. Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Herbario, Cusco, Peru;7. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;8. Wildlife Conservation Society, Zoological Health Program, Bronx, NY, USA;9. Ministry for Primary Industries, Wellington, New Zealand |
| |
Abstract: | The Cordillera Vilcanota in southern Peru is the second largest glacierized range in the tropics and home to one of the largest high‐alpine lakes, Sibinacocha (4,860 m). Here, Telmatobius marmoratus (marbled water frog), Rhinella spinulosa (Andean toad), and Pleurodema marmoratum (marbled four‐eyed frog) have expanded their range vertically within the past century to inhabit newly formed ponds created by ongoing deglaciation. These anuran populations, geographically among the highest (5,200–5,400 m) recorded globally, are being impacted by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and the disease it causes, chytridiomycosis. In this study, we report results from over a decade of monitoring these three anuran species, their habitat, and Bd infection status. Our observations reveal dynamic changes in habitat including ongoing rapid deglaciation (18.4 m/year widening of a corridor between retreating glaciers from 2005 to 2015), new pond formation, changes in vegetation in amphibian habitat, and widespread occurrence of Bd in amphibians in seven sites. Three of these sites have tested positive for Bd over a 9‐ to 12‐year period. In addition, we observed a widespread reduction in T. marmoratus encounters in the Vilcanota in 2008, 2009, and 2012, while encounters increased in 2013 and 2015. Despite the rapid and dynamic changes in habitat under a warming climate, continued presence of Bd in the environment for over a decade, and a reduction in one of three anuran species, we document that these anurans continue to breed and survive in this high Andean environment. High variability in anuran encounters across sites and plasticity in these populations across habitats, sites, and years are all factors that could favor repopulation postdecline. Preserving the connectivity of wetlands in the Cordillera Vilcanota is therefore essential in ensuring that anurans continue to breed and adapt as climate change continues to reshape the environment. |
| |
Keywords: | amphibian decline chytridiomycosis climate change deglaciation ecological succession highest amphibians
Telmatobius
tropical Andes |
|
|