Smithsonian.com

This rain frog, from the genus Pristimantis, has a distinctive red stomach that suggests it is likely a new species. Photo courtesy of Brian Gratwicke, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

According to Andrew Crawford, a former postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and a current researcher at the Universidad de los Andes, the amphibian skin disease chytridiomycosis (known as chytrid) has already eliminated nearly 100 different frog species in Panama and threatens one-third of all amphibian species worldwide.

A recent study suggests that some frogs species were wiped out by chytrid even before scientists knew of their existence. In another new study, three new frog species have been discovered in an area of Panama not yet affected by the deadly pathogen. The newfound frogs give even more urgency to those researchers already feverishly working to save species from extinction.

The three species—including two frogs from the genus Pristimantis and a robber frog from the genus Craugastor—were discovered in the disease-free mountains of eastern Panama. In Panama and the Central American highlands, chytrid is spreading at a rate of 19 miles per year. Scientists at the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project—an initiative sponsored by the National Zoo to save the frogs of Panama—anticipate that chytrid will soon sweep across the site, perhaps within the next six years. When it comes, it will be there to stay. And as of yet, nobody has found a way to stop it.

The amphibian disease was first detected in Queensland, Australia in 1993, and genetic evidence suggests that it was present in Africa even before that and traveled the world on the back of a carrier frog, the African clawed frog. Not susceptible to the disease, the African clawed frog is traded globally as food, as a pet and as a laboratory animal.

One bizarre use of the creature was for pregnancy tests in Europe, Australia and the Americas in the middle of the 20th century. (The frog was injected with a pregnant woman’s urine and if it spawned, well, that was like getting a plus sign.) With the advent of modern pregnancy tests, the frogs were no longer needed. Many were subsequently released or escaped into the wild, where they spread the disease. Now amphibian populations around the world are in grave danger.

“The diversity of species getting hit by this one pathogen is remarkable,” says Crawford.

The project is on the hunt for a solution, however, and its members have initiated a two-pronged approach to save threatened frog species. First, the project is attempting to capture frogs and raise them in captivity, where they can be protected from chytrid. The frogs will ideally be reintroduced to their native habitats at a later date. “We have a decent idea of susceptible species,” says Crawford, who has worked with the project. “We don’t know when we’ll solve the problem, but until then we can get those species in captivity, and try to get at least 100 to 200 individuals of a certain species, to ensure breeding potential.”

The newly discovered robber frog is one such species that is particularly vulnerable to chytrid.

The second step—finding a cure—is a bit more complicated. “Either we have to kill the fungus or make the frogs resistant,” says Crawford. “The best hope right now is finding a bacteria that can confer resistance to frogs.” Field researchers have been painting frogs with cultures of various bacteria and then testing the frogs’ resistance to chytrid in their habitat. Recently, one frog species in the infected Sierra Nevada mountains of California has experienced a high survival rate from chytrid with the help of a specific bacteria. “It’s one avenue for now that seems to show some promise,” Crawford says.

In the face of this global threat, Karen Lips, a University of Maryland wildlife biologist teamed up with Crawford to make the discovery that the disease is already killing species yet to be documented by scientists. By analyzing the genomes of frog specimens that Lips collected in the 1990s (using a technique called “DNA barcoding”), Crawford and Lips identified several previously undescribed frog species that were no longer present today in the Panamanian site where they were first collected.

As if the battle against chytrid weren’t tough enough already, evidence suggests a correlation between higher temperatures due to climate change and the increased rate of frog deaths from chytrid. “The solutions to climate change and infectious disease and contaminants are not always obvious. And these are big, wicked problems that are complex, they’re synergistic, they interact, and so if you’re dealing with problems like climate change or infectious disease, its not enough to go stake out another park,” says Lips. “The thinking has to change.”

The global reach of chytrid will require a large-scale solution. Instead of thinking globally and acting locally, as the saying goes, Crawford believes scientists and conservationists will have to do the reverse.

“It’s as if somebody were ripping chapters out of the book of evolutionary history,” says Crawford. “The truth is, if we never see it, then we never know what we’re losing.”

Could this red salamander be carrying an amphibian-killing fungus?

Only for science would I spend my Saturday morning sitting on minnow nets in the back of a mud-stained, blue pickup. Armed with latex gloves and the wrong kind of shoes, I was happy to be out of the office and helping Smithsonian researchers catch salamanders at the National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia.

Brian Gratwicke, the zoo’s amphibian biologist, warned me that this was not going to be a relaxing hike in the woods. A deadly fungus that’s wiping out the world’s amphibians is spreading through Virginia, and Gratwicke needed extra hands to swab salamanders for evidence of the invader, known as chytrid or Bd (Batrachochytridium dendrobatidis). The results will reveal whether the fungus has reached the Conservation Center’s 3,200-acre campus, located in the northern tip of Shenandoah National Park.

Thirty-five volunteers showed up for the bioblitz, a 24-hour inventory of the park’s amphibians. Most of the participants were National Zoo employees, wearing T-shirts that read “I Root For Endangered Species” or “Disappearing: 50% of World’s Amphibians.” There was no hiding their passion for herpetons, the Greek word for reptiles and amphibians. The park is the perfect place for salamander lovers especially. The Appalachian Mountains are home to 14 percent of the world’s 535 salamander species.

“What’s your favorite herp?” I asked two other volunteers riding in the dirty, blue pickup with me.

“Gopher tortoise,” said Edith, an animal pathologist.

“Too many to choose from,” said Barbara, a reptile house zookeeper with a degree in anthropology.

What kind of salamander is hiding under this rock?

We were part of Stream Team One, the group responsible for finding salamanders under rocks and leaf litter along Shenandoah Park’s muddy banks. Once caught, we were to swab the salamanders slimy underbellies for fungal spores and then set them free. Although, not everything goes as planned.

Growing up in New York City has made me naive when it comes to nature. I had expected the salamanders to be sitting in plain sight, waiting for a human to scoop them up and tickle their bellies with cotton swabs. What I learned is that the critters are small, fast and they can swim.

Searching for salamanders also helped me understand what it takes to do conservation work. I never realized that the reason we know how many beetles or frogs there are in Virginia or New Mexico is because a biologist got on his or her hands and knees, fought off a few ticks, and counted.

By the time evening came, I had caught two salamanders. Of those two, one escaped its Ziplock bag before he could be properly swabbed. “Perhaps we won’t count you as a searcher,” Gratwicke told me. The others were more successful. After surveying more than 30 sites, the teams had collected hundreds of samples. “It was a good salamander day,” Gratwicke said. “There was a lot of wet stuff and it didn’t rain.”

Gratwicke now has enough swabs to find out whether or not the chytrid fungus is on Zoo property. The samples will be tested for the presence of chytrid DNA, a process that will take two months. If positive, the Conservation Center will be a handy laboratory to test possible measures to combat the disease. If negative, scientists will try to prevent chytrid’s spread. For now, we wait.

The chytrid fungus is a global problem, with the potential of wiping out more than half of the world’s 5,743 known amphibian species within our lifetimes. Check out the Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, to learn about the National Zoo’s recently announced initiative to stop the fungus in Panama.