Mathematical Biology Seminar
Cheryl Briggs
University of California, Berkeley
Wednesday Feb. 28, 2007
12:00m in ASB 210 Investigating the Population-Level
Consequences of Chytridiomycosis,
an Emerging Infectious Disease of Amphibians
Abstract:
Chytridiomycosis, a disease caused by the chytrid fungus,
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, has been reported recently in
amphibian populations throughout the world, and has been associated
with many cases of population declines and extinctions. In some
areas of the Sierra Nevada of California the disease appears to be
the causal factor in the rapid extinction of local populations of the
mountain yellow-legged frog, Rana muscosa, within a few years of the
first detection of the fungus. In other areas, however, R. muscosa
populations appear to persist for many years, despite high levels of
infection in tadpoles. I will present the results of field surveys,
experiments, and models at the population and landscape scales to
attempt to understand the different population-level outcomes of this
disease.
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