Supplementary material from "Divergent population responses following salamander mass mortalities and declines driven by the emerging pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans"
Posted on 2023-09-18 - 09:46
Understanding wildlife responses to novel threats is vital in counteracting biodiversity loss. The emerging pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) causes dramatic declines in European salamander populations, and is considered an imminent threat to global amphibian biodiversity. However, real-life disease outcomes remain largely uncharacterized. We performed a multidisciplinary assessment of the longer-term impacts of Bsal on highly susceptible fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) populations, by comparing four of the earliest known outbreak sites to uninfected sites. Based on large-scale monitoring efforts, we found population persistence in strongly reduced abundances to over a decade after Bsal invasion, but also the extinction of an initially small-sized population. In turn, we found that host responses varied, and Bsal detection remained low, within surviving populations. Demographic analyses indicated an ongoing scarcity of large reproductive adults with potential for recruitment failure, while spatial comparisons indicated a population remnant persisting within aberrant habitat. Additionally, we detected no early signs of genetic diversity loss, yet nor of increased host resistance. Beyond offering additional context to Bsal-driven salamander declines, results highlight how the impacts of emerging hypervirulent pathogens can be unpredictable and vary across different levels of biological complexity, and how limited pathogen detectability after population declines may complicate surveillance efforts.
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Erens, Jesse; Preissler, Kathleen; Speybroeck, Jeroen; Beukema, Wouter; Spitzen-van der Sluijs, Annemarieke; Stark, Tariq; et al. (2023). Supplementary material from "Divergent population responses following salamander mass mortalities and declines driven by the emerging pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans". The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6834913.v2
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AUTHORS (12)
JE
Jesse Erens
KP
Kathleen Preissler
JS
Jeroen Speybroeck
WB
Wouter Beukema
AS
Annemarieke Spitzen-van der Sluijs
TS
Tariq Stark
AL
Arnaud Laudelout
TK
Thierry Kinet
BS
Benedikt R. Schmidt
AM
An Martel
SS
Sebastian Steinfartz
FP
Frank Pasmans