Rapid assessment of the presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Bolivian Andean frogs

Abstract

[Extract] The widespread chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), causes a severe cutaneous infection to many species of amphibians worldwide, in some cases resulting in population declines or extinctions (Berger et al. 1998; Crawford et al. 2010; Lips et al. 2006; Mendelson et al. 2006). This fungus has been found in amphibians from five continents (Ron 2005; Une et al. 2008; www.Bd-maps.net), but has shown a broader geographic and taxonomic incidence in the Americas. Within South America, Bd has been reported from all countries except Paraguay and the Guianan region. In tropical America, the decline of many species in endemic genera and families, such as the genus Atelopus in the Bufonidae (La Marca et al. 2005), suggest a phylogenetically linked sensitivity to Bd. This may explain why the effects of chytridiomycosis in the Neotropics appear to be remarkably higher in relation to other continents (Corey and Waite 2008).