Amphibian Declines: Pollution Shown to Worsen Effects of Normal Parasites & Diseases

[findi]

Hi All,
In 1990, the IUCN’s Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force, to which I belonged, was one of the few large scale efforts addressing what is now known as the “Disappearing Amphibian Crisis”. Today, with legions of biologists and hobbyists at work on the problem, we still do not fully understand why nearly 200 species have become extinct in the last 20 years – a rate 200x that of what might be “expected”. But we do have some insights, one of which was highlighted in a recent journal article (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Biology) . It appears that stress, much of which is in response to what we are doing to amphibian habitats, is worsening the effects of normal pathogens and diseases. Read article here: http://bitly.com/RRYlpU
Comments and questions appreciated. As I do not place notices here each time I post a new article on That Reptile Blog, you may wish to check in periodically or subscribe; you can do so here http://bitly.com/JJNk9h. Please also check out my posts on Twitter http://bitly.com/JP27Nj.

Thanks, Frank
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[Louise E. Rothstein]

Stress does affect immunity.
Thank you for pointing this out.

It is more than time to find out that we are not the only species to get sick under stress.

Many others are as unfortunate.

And these include amphibians.

 

[findi]

Thanks...yes, stress is a major factor in zoo and private collections, affecting inverts through mammals. We are not as good at noticing it in the wild, so many complicating factors, but I think/hope this shows some useful progress, Best, Frank

 

[The Snark]

The effects of stress have been fully established in fisheries. As one example, alter the water content or temperature beyond certain rigid limits and trout won't gain weight while consuming the same amount of food. Stress is also a proven significant factor in fish die offs.

 

[bugmankeith]

Also add pollution and diseases from humans encroaching on habitat. If someone plowed down forests or jungles don't you think that would severely stress the Eco system.

 

[findi]

Hi,

Pollution is the focus of the article, and a severe threat; we haven't seen human disease affecting amphibians, as far as I know, but discarded medications are a serious concern, as is disease transfer by shipping animals from place to place (please see this article for more on that http://bitly.com/KRIvZW). Human disease have been known to impact wild primates, and diseases passing from primates, birds, rodents and other animals to people is a major problem as well. . Best, Frank