TITLE:
Molecular Identification of a Fungal Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Its Impact on Urbanized New Jersey
AUTHORS:
Tin-Chun Chu, Meiyin Wu, Lauren Pohren, Bobak Haghjoo, Christina Soman, Lee H. Lee
KEYWORDS:
Amphibian, Habitat Fragmentation, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd, Habitat Connectivity
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.4 No.16,
December
3,
2014
ABSTRACT: In urban landscape, amphibians face many
challenges in order to sustain their populations, such as road mortality and
infection of pathogenic Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Bd infection has
been reported to cause significant mortality; however, its current distribution
in the state of New Jersey remains unknown. In spring, amphibians emerge from
their wintering group and migrate to nearby breeding ponds or vernal pools.
Their migration pathway is often intercepted by the dense network of human
transportation which leads to extirpation. This study aims to investigate
potential mortality caused by human transportation and the infected rate of Bd
fungus on the amphibian populations at a suburban area in central New Jersey.
Twenty-four pitfall traps were installed to collect amphibians. A total of 687
organisms representing 7 amphibian species were recorded during the 73-day
study period. Four of the 7 species were selected to test for Bd infection;
73.6% of the amphibian skin swabs showed positive results of infection.
However, Bd was not detected in water and soil samples collected around the
study areas. The results of this study suggested that road mortality and
pathogenic Bd might have tremendously impacted the urban amphibian populations
and might have been the major causes of the current trend of amphibian
population decline, particularly in the urban area.