![]() Multicontinental amphibian decline due to the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) provides a stark example. Many of these services are not fully-appreciated due to complex environmental dynamics and lack of baseline data. Variation among species, microenvironmental conditions, and the length of coexistence with Bd may contribute to observed differences in prevalence of Bd and in population response.īiodiversity in ecosystems plays an important role in supporting human welfare, including regulating the transmission of infectious diseases. Riparian amphibian abundance and species richness also declined at SFT following detection of Bd in 2002. Prevalence of infection on the SFT was highest in pool transects, and at higher elevations, but not among levels of AI. Prevalence of infection on the ECT was highest along riparian transects and at higher elevations, but not among levels of AI. Overall prevalence of Bd along the ECT increased from 0.0 (95% CI 0.00-0.0003) to 0.51 (95% CI 0.48-0.55) over a 3 mo period, accompanied by significant decreases in amphibian abundance and species richness in all habitats. In 2004 we sampled Bd along both transects, surveying the SFT 2 yr after decline, and surveying the ECT 4 mo prior to the arrival of Bd, during the epizootic, and 2 mo later. Amphibian populations on the Santa Fé transect (SFT) had declined in 2002, while those on the El Copé transect (ECT) were healthy until September 2004. We determined effects of elevation, habitat, and aquatic index (AI) on prevalence of infection among Panamanian amphibians sampled along 2 elevational transects. The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has caused declines of many amphibian populations, yet the full course of the epizootic has rarely been observed in wild populations.
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