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Researchers have tallied the global death toll of the frog-killing chytrid fungus and its devastation is far worse than scientists thought, according to a study published yesterday (March 28) in Science.
The fungal pathogens that cause the disease chytridiomycosis ravage the skin of frogs, toads, and other amphibians, throwing off their balance of water and salt and eventually causing heart failure, Nature reports. One fungus implicated in causing chytridiomycosis was discovered in 1988 while another was found in 2013. Scientists realized the fungi caused vast declines in amphibian populations, they hadn’t examined its effects on a global scale until now.
A team of scientists from across the world banded together to search out the species and populations affected by the disease. They pored over literature reports and unpublished data and interviewed amphibian experts. Their survey found that chytrid fungi played a role in the decline of ...
