Meeting Abstract

59.7  Sunday, Jan. 5 15:00  Prevalence of the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis in contaminated and uncontaminated wetlands on the Savannah River Site, South Carolina LOVE, CN*; SCOTT, DE; NUNZIATA, SO; WINZELER, ME; LANCE, SL; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC 29802; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC 29802; Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC 29802; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC 29802 love@srel.uga.edu

Increasing prevalence of infectious diseases is one cause of global amphibian population declines, yet the variable susceptibility of different amphibian species and populations remains unexplained. A variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors, including environmental pollutants, have been hypothesized to increase the emergence of wildlife diseases in amphibians via increased host susceptibility. A high incidence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in bullfrog larvae was observed in constructed wetlands on the Savannah River Site (SRS), South Carolina, where there are also elevated levels of copper, zinc, and mercury. No studies to date have explicitly examined the linkages between metal contaminants and the disease ecology of chytridiomycosis in amphibians, and this knowledge gap impedes our understanding of disease susceptibility and transmission. We sampled adult and larval amphibians from three contaminated and 7 reference wetlands on the SRS. We are examining at least 512 individual amphibians representing 5 salamander, 5 frog and 2 toad species. Seventy-seven samples encompassing 8 species have tested positive for B. dendrobatidis. We have found a higher incidence of B. dendrobatidis in contaminated and constructed wetlands (20-24% of individuals sampled from these locations).