Author: Erik Stokstad / Source: Science | AAAS
The infectious disease that has devastated the most biodiversity is a fungal killer of amphibians, researchers report today in Science. Around the world, 90 species are thought to have gone extinct because of the fungus. And at least another 491 species have declined because of it.
The culprit with this “unprecedented lethality” is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a kind of chytrid fungus, whose relatives are harmless fungi found in soil and water. The researchers caution that international trade—the pet trade in particular—has spread the pathogen widely and could continue to do so.
The first signs of problems emerged from the rainforests of Central America and Australia in the late 1980s. Colorful harlequin toads and other species were disappearing, even though their habitat remained intact. Bd is highly infectious and deadly, destroying the skin and triggering heart attacks—adding to other biodiversity losses from habitat destruction. Subsequent work has shown that the chytrid fungus came from Asia and spread around the world over the past century, most likely via the wildlife trade. It seems impossible to eradicate the disease because some amphibian species tolerate it, acting as a natural reservoir, and keep spreading the pathogen.
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