Host‐specific thermal profiles affect fitness of a widespread pathogen

Stevenson, Lisa A.; Roznik, Elizabeth A.; Alford, Ross A.; Pike, David A.

doi:10.1002/ece3.1271

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(186 reference statements)

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“…The host-pathogen dynamics underlying chytridiomycosis are strongly influenced by temperature (Woodhams et al 2003;Piotrowski et al 2004;McDonald et al 2005;Rodder et al 2008;Kinney et al 2011;Savage et al 2011;Stevenson et al 2013Stevenson et al , 2014. In the laboratory, Bd grows optimally from 15 to 25 °C and dies above 28-30 °C (Piotrowski et al 2004;Stevenson et al 2013).…”

Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Infection dynamics in frog populations with different histories of decline caused by a deadly disease

et al. 2015

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Pathogens can drive host population dynamics. Chytridiomycosis is a fungal disease of amphibians that is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). This pathogen has caused declines and extinctions in some host species whereas other host species coexist with Bd without suffering declines. In the early 1990s, Bd extirpated populations of the endangered common mistfrog, Litoria rheocola, at high-elevation sites, while populations of the species persisted at low-elevation sites. Today, populations have reappeared at many high-elevation sites where they presently co-exist with the fungus. We conducted a capture-mark-recapture (CMR) study of six populations of L. rheocola over 1 year, at high and low elevations. We used multistate CMR models to determine which factors (Bd infection status, site type, and season) influenced rates of frog survival, recapture, infection, and recovery from infection. We observed Bd-induced mortality of individual frogs, but did not find any significant effect of Bd infection on the survival rate of L. rheocola at the population level. Survival and recapture rates depended on site type and season. Infection rate was highest in winter when temperatures were favourable for pathogen growth, and differed among site types. The recovery rate was high (75.7-85.8%) across seasons, and did not differ among site types. The coexistence of L. rheocola with Bd suggests that (1) frog populations are becoming resistant to the fungus, (2) Bd may have evolved lower virulence, or (3) current environmental conditions may be inhibiting outbreaks of the fatal disease.

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Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Infection dynamics in frog populations with different histories of decline caused by a deadly disease

et al. 2015

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“…; Stevenson et al . ). Similarly, Bd tolerates relatively narrow bands of both salinity and pH (Piotrowski et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…An alternative for managing the disease is targeting the abiotic frailties of chytrid fungi (Woodhams et al 2011;Scheele et al 2014b). Temperature regimes are a key determinant of the pathogenicity and virulence of chytrids (Andre et al 2008;Bustamante et al 2010;Richards-Zawacki 2010;Martel et al 2013;Rowley & Alford 2013), and natural thermal refugia have facilitated the persistence of several species that are susceptible to Bd Stevenson et al 2014). Similarly, Bd tolerates relatively narrow bands of both salinity and pH (Piotrowski et al 2004;Stockwell et al 2012), resulting in physicochemical refugia from chytridiomycosis for some threatened anurans (Bramwell 2011;Stockwell et al 2015a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Habitat Management Mitigate Disease Impacts on Threatened Amphibians?

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Scroggie

Ramsey

et al. 2017

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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Chytridiomycosis has decimated amphibian biodiversity. Management options for the disease are currently limited, but habitat manipulation holds promise due to the thermal and physicochemical sensitivities of chytrid fungi. Here, we quantify the extent to which habitat management could reduce metapopulation extinction risk for an Australian frog susceptible to chytridiomycosis. Our modeling revealed that: (1) habitat management is most effective in climates where hosts are already less susceptible to the disease; (2) creating habitat, particularly habitat with refugial properties adverse to the pathogen, may be substantially more effective than manipulating existing habitat; and (3) increasing metapopulation size and connectivity through strategic habitat creation can greatly reduce extinction risk. Controlling chytridiomycosis is a top priority for conserving amphibians. Our study provides impetus for experiments across a range of species and environments to test the capacity of habitat management to mitigate the impacts of this pervasive disease.

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“…Stevenson et al . ). Hurlbert (, ) defines a ‘replicate’ as the smallest experimental unit to which a treatment is independently applied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Stevenson et al . ). One solution to this problem is to use smaller, less expensive chambers (Raffel et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Low‐cost fluctuating‐temperature chamber for experimental ecology

et al. 2016

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Summary1. Commercially available fluctuating-temperature chambers are large and costly. This poses a challenge to experimental ecologists endeavouring to recreate natural temperature cycles in the laboratory because the large number of commercial chambers required for replicated study designs is prohibitively expensive to purchase, requires a large amount of space and consumes a great deal of energy. 2. We developed and validated a design for economical, programmable fluctuating-temperature chambers based on a relatively small (23 L) commercially manufactured constant temperature chamber ($140US) modified with a customized, user-friendly microcontroller ($15US). 3. Over a 1-week trial, these chambers reliably reproduced a real-world fluctuating (13Á1-35Á5°C) body temperature regime of an individual frog, with a near-perfect 1 : 1 fit between target and actual temperatures (y = 1Á0036x + 0Á1366, R 2 = 0Á9977, 95% confidence interval for slope = 1Á0026, 1Á0046). Over 30-day trials, they also reliably produced a simpler daily fluctuating-temperature scheme (sine wave fluctuating between 10 and 25°C each 24 h) and a range of constant temperature regimes. 4. The design is inexpensive and simple to assemble in large numbers, enabling genuine replication of even highly complex, many treatment study designs. For example, it is possible to simultaneously examine in replicate chambers the responses of organisms to constant regimes, regimes that fluctuate following the means experienced by populations and regimes that exactly mimic fluctuations measured over any length of time for particular individuals that differ in behaviour or microhabitat use. These chambers thus vastly expand the pool of resources available for manipulative experiments in thermal biology and ecology.

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Host‐specific thermal profiles affect fitness of a widespread pathogen

Cited by 18 publications

References 52 publications

Infection dynamics in frog populations with different histories of decline caused by a deadly disease

Infection dynamics in frog populations with different histories of decline caused by a deadly disease

Can Habitat Management Mitigate Disease Impacts on Threatened Amphibians?

Low‐cost fluctuating‐temperature chamber for experimental ecology

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