| | Accession Number | 5004017 |
| | Title | Incidence and distribution of chytridiomycosis in road-killed amphibians at National |
| | Wildlife Refuges in the Northeast and on Maine routes of the NAAMP |
| | Project Description | Within recent decades many populations of amphibians have declined and some species are |
| | probably extinct (e.g., golden toad (Bufo periglenes) in Costa Rica, golden toad and web-footed |
| | coquis (Eleutherodactylus sp.) in Puerto Rico, and gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus spp.) in |
| | Australia (Berger et al. 1999)). In 1991 herpetologists who realized that amphibians were |
| | disappearing in many areas of the world formed the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force |
| | (DAPTF) to determine the extent and causes of the declines and remedial action needed. The |
| | North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) was a result of the DAPTF efforts. |
| | Deaths of Dendrobates sp. frogs at the National Zoo were diagnosed as caused by cutaneous |
| | chytridiomycosis (Pessier et al. 1999) and the chytrid associated with the dead frogs was isolated |
| | and named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Longcore et al. 1999). The chytrid fungus has been |
| | confirmed as causing death of poison dart frogs (Dendrobates tinctorius) by Kochs postulates |
| | (i.e., isolation of the fungus from infected frogs, experimental exposure of non-infected frogs to |
| | spores of the fungus, then re-isolation of the fungus from dosed frogs that died, while maintaining |
| | control frogs that lived (Longcore et al. 1999). Simultaneously and independently a group of |
| | researchers in Australia U.K., and the United States determined that a chytrid fungus, which is |
| | histologically and morphologically indistinguishable from B. dendrobatidis, was associated with |
| | die-offs in Central America and Australia (Berger et al. 1998, Longcore et al. 1999, Nichols et al. |
| | 1998, Pessier et al. 1999). Blaustein and Wake (1995), Laurance et al. (1996, 1997), Daszak et |
| | al. (1999), and Droege (1999) have hypothesized about potential causes of drastic declines of |
| | amphibians and have outlined issues associated with amphibian declines. Although |
| | chytridiomycosis is not the only cause of amphibian mortality and may interact with other |
| | environmental variables, it is an important cause of population declines, as exemplified by its |
| | recent effect on the endangered boreal toad (Bufo boreas) in Colorado (Pollack and Blanchard |
| | 1999). The distribution of the Batrachochytrium fungus is primarily known from where it has been |
| | associated with die-offs of amphibians. In this pilot survey (one State), we propose proactive |
| | research to identify the geographical distribution of the fungal pathogen in Maine amphibian |
| | species, primarily frogs. The pathogenic chytrid was isolated in 1999 from 3 species of road-killed |
| | frogs, including 3 northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens), collected at one site in Maine (J.E. |
| | Longcore, unpubl. data). To collect vehicle-killed specimens throughout Maine, we wish to take |
| | advantage of the sampling framework of the Maine Calling Amphibian Survey (part of the NAAMP) |
| | and efforts by U.S. F&WS personnel (Laura Eaton-Poole, USFWS, pers. commun), who survey |
| | for malformed amphibians on refuges. This study would contribute to Objective 3 of the National |
| | Plan for Amphibian Monitoring and Research (NPAMR) to Develop procedures for collecting |
| | ancillary data during sampling that will facilitate investigation of causes of population declines., |
| | and it will begin to integrate BRD research studies with monitoring activities to enhance cost |
| | effectiveness through joint efforts. |
| | Keywords | acadia national park, amphibians, chytrid fungus, incidence, national wildlife, refuges, |
| | Principal | Jerry R Longcore, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: Jerry_Longcore@usgs.gov; Joyce E |
| | Investigators | Longcore, University of Maine: Longcore@maine.maine.edu; Allan P Pessier, Dept. of Pathology, |
| | Zoological Society of San Diego: Apessier@sandiegozoo.org; |
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