Ms Kari Soennichsen1, Dr. Simon Clulow1, Prof. Richard Duncan1, Dr. Alejandro Trujillo-González1
1University Of Canberra, Bruce, Australia
Biography:
Kari Soennichsen is a PhD candidate in the Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics at the University of Canberra. She has a background in Biochemistry, Neuroscience, and Behavioural Ecology, but is currently focused on approaches to monitor and reduce chytrid impacts in natural settings. Kari is passionate about using multidisciplinary and applied approaches for tackling conservation challenges.
Abstract:
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Chytrid fungus) is the greatest current threat to global amphibian biodiversity, having caused devastating declines and extinctions of 200 species in the last 4 decades. Monitoring the prevalence of chytrid in wetlands is crucial for understanding and mitigating the devastating impacts of chytridiomycosis on amphibian populations. Current methods of chytrid monitoring involve the capture and skin swabbing of amphibians, which is both invasive and time intensive.
Previous studies utilising environmental DNA for chytrid detection were largely limited to determining pathogen presence/absence as a result of high variability in amplification. By optimising collection and DNA amplification methods, we aimed to increase detection sensitivity to enable reliable quantification of chytrid levels in urban wetlands in the Australian Capital Territory. We collected water samples from four wetlands in the ACT and swabbed the skin of frogs at each study site to evaluate the relationship between the quantity of environmental chytrid and the infection prevalence and intensity in frog communities.
Our results show that chytrid prevalence in wetlands fluctuate over time, showing a strong correlation with chytrid intensity in frog communities. The ability to non-invasively quantify pathogen load at the waterbody level represents a great improvement for efficiently monitoring chytrid, thus advancing our understanding of this global disease’s prevalence in wetlands.