Lack of evidence for the drought-linked chytridiomycosis hypothesis.
A significant amount of recent research has focused on the potentially synergistic roles of climate change and disease in causing amphibian declines and extinctions. Herein I discuss the drought-linked chytridiomycosis hypothesis (DLCH), which states that prolonged or intensified dry seasons trigger or exacerbate epidemics of chytridiomycosis, a potentially lethal skin disease of amphibians caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. I demonstrate that the DLCH runs contrary to our knowledge of B. dendrobatidis physiology, biogeography, and host-parasite ecology and conclude that abnormally dry weather should actually favor amphibians by decreasing the prevalence, severity, and spread of chytridiomycosis.
Kriger
Kerry M
KM
School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. kerry@savethefrogs.com
D000663:Amphibians / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D008411:Chytridiomycota / Q000254:growth & development*; D055864:Droughts; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D009181:Mycoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*