Climate change and outbreaks of amphibian chytridiomycosis in a montane area of Central Spain; is there a link?

Amphibian species are declining at an alarming rate on a global scale in large part owing to an infectious disease caused by the chytridiomycete fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This disease of amphibians has recently emerged within Europe, but knowledge of its effects on amphibian assemblage...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2007-01, Vol.274 (1607), p.253-260
Main Authors: Bosch, Jaime, Carrascal, Luís M, Durán, Luis, Walker, Susan, Fisher, Matthew C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphibian Declines
Amphibians
Amphibians - microbiology
Analysis of Variance
Animals
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
Chytridiomycetes
Chytridiomycosis
Chytridiomycota
Climate
Climate change
Climate models
Climatic zones
Climatology
Epidemics
Epidemiology
Greenhouse Effect
Infections
Pathogens
Population Dynamics
Principal Component Analysis
Spain
Temperature
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Summary:Amphibian species are declining at an alarming rate on a global scale in large part owing to an infectious disease caused by the chytridiomycete fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This disease of amphibians has recently emerged within Europe, but knowledge of its effects on amphibian assemblages remains poor. Importantly, little is known about the environmental envelope that is associated with chytridiomycosis in Europe and the potential for climate change to drive future disease dynamics. Here, we use long-term observations on amphibian population dynamics in the Peñalara Natural Park, Spain, to investigate the link between climate change and chytridiomycosis. Our analysis shows a significant association between change in local climatic variables and the occurrence of chytridiomycosis within this region. Specifically, we show that rising temperature is linked to the occurrence of chytrid-related disease, consistent with the chytrid-thermal-optimum hypothesis. We show that these local variables are driven by general circulation patterns, principally the North Atlantic Oscillation. Given that B. dendrobatidis is known to be broadly distributed across Europe, there is now an urgent need to assess the generality of our finding and determine whether climate-driven epidemics may be expected to impact on amphibian species across the wider region.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2006.3713