The devastating chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is a known scourge of amphibian populations worldwide, thriving in moist conditions and when frogs experience temperatures outside their optimal range. Research of lab collaborators conducted in Brazil's Atlantic Forest explored a new vulnerability: the reproductive habitat mismatch hypothesis. This suggests frogs become more susceptible to Bd when found outside the type of habitat (aquatic or terrestrial) they require for breeding. Analyzing nearly 3,500 frogs across 44 species, scientists confirmed that while high rainfall increased Bd prevalence and intensity overall, this negative impact was significantly worse for individuals captured in habitats mismatched from their species' breeding requirements.
These findings carry worrying implications, especially considering environmental changes. Increased rainfall, potentially driven by climate change, will likely elevate Bd risk in tropical areas. Crucially, this risk will be particularly acute for amphibian populations forced out of their preferred reproductive habitats due to factors like habitat destruction or thermal stress. Protecting amphibians effectively means not just conserving space, but ensuring they have access to the correct environments needed for breeding, thereby minimizing stress and bolstering their defense against this deadly fungus.

Citation: Gilbert N.A., R.C. Bell, A. Catenazzi, R.A. Martins, S. Buttimer, W.J. Neely, C. Lambertini, V. Saenz Calderon, C.F.B. Haddad, C.G. Becker, G.V. DiRenzo. 2025. Reproductive habitat mismatch influences chytrid infection dynamics in a tropical amphibian community. Global Ecology and Conservation 60: e03599. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03599

To cap off a busy week of proposal defense and seminars for the lab, Gustavo presented his dissertation proposal on amphibian-bromeliad interactions. Congratulations!

Isabel gave her proposal seminar on the demographic effects of chytrid infection in a diverse tropical frog community. Congratulations!!

Rachel successfully defended her dissertation today! She examined the behavioral response of the strawberry poison-dart frog, Oophaga pumilio, to infection with the virulent amphibian chytrid fungus, using sensorial physiology and mate choice experiments. Congratulations Rachel!!

Several lab members received awards recently. Jon Adamski received a Carl Gans Traveling Fellowship to attend the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in St. Paul next July with his presentation Elucidating the Role of Shed Skins in the Persistence of Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in Soil. Gustavo Ruano algo received the same Carl Gans Traveling Fellowship to present Bromeligenous Amphibians in Suboptimal Habitats: A Case Study of Phyllodytes gyrinaethes and its Environmental Interactions. Gustavo will also give a talk during the Symposium on herp diseases, titled Amphibian Population Status Across an Altitudinal Gradient in Southwestern Guatemala: Insights from the San Marcos Transect. And Cara Giordano is the recipient of a SSAR Roger Conant Grant-in-Herpetology for 2025 in the Conservation Category with her proposal Investigating skin secretions in Typhlonectes natans , a non-native and potentially invasive amphibian of South Florida. Congratulations everyone!