DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Non-lethal Effects of Chytridiomycosis on the Reproductive Behavior of Tungara Frogs

世界正在经历人类历史上最大的脊椎动物灭绝，因为一种真菌导致了许多两栖动物的灭绝。目前，已有168种两栖动物灭绝，而且这个数字还在上升。这项研究将调查这种新出现的真菌病原体对一种热带青蛙的影响。尽管病原体正在迅速传播，其感染通常是致命的，但包括本研究重点在内的一些物种似乎具有抗药性。研究人员将确定这种病原体对成虫、蝌蚪存活和雌性配偶选择的亚致命影响。这项研究将通过揭示这些疾病甚至对“抗药性”物种造成的损失来提高我们对野生紧急疾病的认识。这项研究将确定由壶菌巴氏杆菌(Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis，Bd)引起的一种紧急传染病--壶菌病--如何影响青蛙的繁殖行为。很少有人注意到在耐药物种中丝状真菌病的亚致死效应。感染Bd的汤加拉蛙种群缺乏任何明确的疾病迹象，使我们能够检查潜在的病原体应激如何影响繁殖行为。第一个目的是了解广泛分布的热带Túngara蛙的壶菌感染的基本流行病学。自2010年以来，研究人员每年都会在从巴拿马西部到约1000公里的达里安山口的Túngara蛙群中进行采样，以确定是否存在Bd。所有接受调查的人群目前都感染了Bd。第二个目的是研究由Bd引起的潜在病原体应激如何与性交流、配偶选择、活力和生殖成功相互作用。为了评估对感染的反应和打电话行为之间是否存在权衡，研究人员将分析男性在实验感染Bd之前和之后的广告通话。研究人员将对这些相同的叫声进行女性趋声实验，以确定男性感染Bd是否会影响女性的配偶选择，并确定在发育和整体表现中，对感染的反应是否会付出代价。应其他研究人员的要求，行为测试的视频、方案细节和数据将可供其他研究人员使用，并将在结果公布后公开。数据备份将安全地存储在UT Box、TACC计算机中的Ryan Lab帐户和外部硬盘驱动器中。当数据发布时，它们将被存放在仙女座储存库中。

The world is experiencing the greatest vertebrate extinction in human history, because a fungus is responsible for the demise of many amphibian species. Currently, 168 amphibian species are extinct, and the number is rising. This study will investigate the effect of this emergent fungal pathogen on a tropical frog species. Although the pathogen is rapidly spreading and its infections are usually lethal, some species, including the focus of this study, appear to be resistant. The researchers will determine the sub-lethal effects of the pathogen on adults, tadpole survivorship, and female mate choice. This study will advance our knowledge of emergent diseases in the wild by showing the toll that such diseases take even on "resistant" species.This study will determine how chytridiomycosis, an emergent infectious disease caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), influences the reproductive behavior of frogs. Little attention has been given to sub-lethal effects of chytridiomycosis in resistant species. Túngara frog populations infected with Bd lack any clear signs of the disease, allowing us to examine how the potential pathogen-stress influences reproductive behavior. The first aim is to understand the basic epidemiology of chytrid infections in the widespread tropical Túngara frog. Since 2010, the researchers have sampled annually for the presence of Bd in populations of Túngara frogs from western Panama to the Darien Gap, an approximately 1000 km transect. All populations surveyed are currently infected with Bd. The second aim is to examine how the potential pathogen-stress induced by Bd interact with sexual communication, mate choice, vigor, and reproductive success. To assess if there is a trade-off between the response to the infection and calling behavior, the researchers will analyze males' advertisement calls before and after experimental infection with Bd. The researchers will perform female phonotaxis experiments with these same calls to determine if male infection with Bd influences female mate choice, and determine if there is a cost of the response to the infection in development and overall performance. Videos of behavioral tests, protocol details and data will be available to other researchers upon request, and will be publicly available after publication of results. Data back-ups will be securely stored in UT Box, at the Ryan Lab account in the TACC computer, and in external hard drives. As data are published they will be deposited in the DRYAD repository.