Despite calls for improved responses to emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, management is seldom considered until a disease has been detected in affected populations. Reactive approaches may limit the potential for control and increase total response costs. An alternative, proactive management framework can identify immediate actions that reduce future impacts even before a disease is detected, and plan subsequent actions that are conditional on disease emergence. We identify four main obstacles to developing proactive management strategies for the newly discovered salamander pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). Given that uncertainty is a hallmark of wildlife disease management and that associated decisions are often complicated by multiple competing objectives, we advocate using decision analysis to create and evaluate trade-offs between proactive (pre-emergence) and reactive (post-emergence) management options. Policy makers and natural resource agency personnel can apply principles from decision analysis to improve strategies for countering emerging infectious diseases.

Summary Vertebrate skeletons have high phosphorus (P) content relative to other tissues. Variation in skeletal investment within and among species is hypothesised to predict variation in P demand, standing stock and recycling. These relationships have been examined among fish, but not in vertebrates with more robust skeletons, such as turtles. Our objectives were to (i) describe freshwater turtle stoichiometry relative to skeletal mass, (ii) compare turtle body and excreta stoichiometry to patterns among fish and (iii) relate turtle skeletal stoichiometry to turtle nutrient storage and recycling. Skeleton constituted 82% of turtle dry mass. Total body %P increased ontogenetically with turtle mass and 93% of all P resided in the skeleton. Phosphorus storage within turtle assemblages was high (0.2–0.45 kg ha−1). Turtles excreted lower concentrations of P than fish. Excreta N:P was positively correlated with body N:P, suggesting that increased skeletal P investment was inversely related to P demand. Our results demonstrate that P stored in the bone of turtles can represent a large standing stock of P in fresh waters. Further, our work suggests skeletal investment alone is not sufficient to predict an animal's P demand and, by extension, their effects on nutrient recycling. Instead, our results indicate P demand is determined by both skeletal investment and growth rate. Consequently, taxa with high body P, extreme longevity and slow growth rates, such as adult turtles, may serve as stable standing stocks of nutrients while also contributing proportionately to nutrient remineralisation.

The rapid emergence and reemergence of zoonotic diseases requires the ability to rapidly evaluate and implement optimal management decisions. Actions to control or mitigate the effects of emerging pathogens are commonly delayed because of uncertainty in the estimates and the predicted outcomes of the control tactics. The development of models that describe the best-known information regarding the disease system at the early stages of disease emergence is an essential step for optimal decision-making. Models can predict the potential effects of the pathogen, provide guidance for assessing the likelihood of success of different proposed management actions, quantify the uncertainty surrounding the choice of the optimal decision, and highlight critical areas for immediate research. We demonstrate how to develop models that can be used as a part of a decision-making framework to determine the likelihood of success of different management actions given current knowledge.

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