A fungus that has eradicated more than 100 frog species across the globe has spread to an ecosystem in Panama that researchers hoped might hold out from infection a while longer. "The findings are a concern because it means the fungus will continue to move through eastern Panama, and we only have a [limited time] to do what we can to save the frogs, collect data, watch," linkurl:Karen Lips,;http://www.science.siu.edu/zoology/lips/ herpetologist at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, who monitors frogs populations in Panama, told The Scientist in an Email. The origin of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and how it fells frogs is unknown, but it has spread quickly in many ecosystems. It was first detected in Panama in the early nineties in mountain forests west of the Panama Canal. Last year linkurl:I reported;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/53777/ on its incidence there -- researchers saw the spread slowing in the region. It had not been detected...
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