Endemic Infection of <i>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</i> in Costa Rica: Implications for Amphibian Conservation at Regional and Species Level

• Main Authors: Héctor Zumbado-Ulate, Kiersten N. Nelson, Adrián García-Rodríguez, Gerardo Chaves, Erick Arias, Federico Bolaños, Steven M. Whitfield, Catherine L. Searle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-08-01
• Series: Diversity
• Subjects: amphibian; chytridiomycosis; conservation; disease; enzootics; epizootics; population declines
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/11/8/129

<i>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</i> (<i>Bd</i>) has been associated with the severe declines and extinctions of amphibians in Costa Rica that primarily occurred during the 1980s and 1990s. However, the current impact of <i>Bd</i> infection on amphibian species in Costa Rica is unknown. We aimed to update the list of amphibian species in Costa Rica and evaluate the prevalence and infection intensity of <i>Bd</i> infection across the country to aid in the development of effective conservation strategies for amphibians. We reviewed taxonomic lists and included new species descriptions and records for a total of 215 amphibian species in Costa Rica. We also sampled for <i>Bd</i> at nine localities from 2015&#8722;2018 and combined these data with additional <i>Bd</i> occurrence data from multiple studies conducted in amphibian communities across Costa Rica from 2005&#8722;2018. With this combined dataset, we found that <i>Bd</i> was common (overall infection rate of 23%) across regions and elevations, but infection intensity was below theoretical thresholds associated with mortality. <i>Bd</i> was also more prevalent in Caribbean lowlands and in terrestrial amphibians with an aquatic larval stage; meanwhile, infection load was the highest in direct-developing species (forest and stream-dwellers). Our findings can be used to prioritize regions and taxonomic groups for conservation strategies.