Toads fall foul of fungus
September 24th 2008 00:51
:
24 Sept 08
Despite my fears of looking like a weird frogger person by writing yet another frog/toad post, i had to include this story as a cautionary tale....
A new study, just out in the journal Current Biology, shows that efforts to re-introduce captive endangered midwife toads to their native range in Morrocco has actually put the entire popualtion at high risk of extinction.
Tests show that the wild population is now infected with the chytrid fungus which threatens amphibian populations worldwide (see previous post on Australia's extinct frog found).
The researchers traced the source of the infection back to toads released into the wild from the captive breeding centre.
This is one of the first studies to demonstrate that humans moving amphibans around is contributing to the spread of the fungus.
The extent to which the fungus will impact the populat
ion is currently unknown...
A new study, just out in the journal Current Biology, shows that efforts to re-introduce captive endangered midwife toads to their native range in Morrocco has actually put the entire popualtion at high risk of extinction.
Tests show that the wild population is now infected with the chytrid fungus which threatens amphibian populations worldwide (see previous post on Australia's extinct frog found).
The researchers traced the source of the infection back to toads released into the wild from the captive breeding centre.
This is one of the first studies to demonstrate that humans moving amphibans around is contributing to the spread of the fungus.
The extent to which the fungus will impact the populat
Midwife toads are now facing a new threat - fungus introduced from captive bred toads...
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