| Amphibian
species are declining worldwide, some due to epidemics of new or more
virulent pathogens. This biodiversity crisis has led to increasing
interest in understanding what ecological and physiological processes
underlay patterns of disease in amphibians. This research has focused
on determining which ecological factors relate to seasonal patterns
of pathogen and parasite abundance in populations of Eastern Red-spotted
Newts. Mothersbaugh Swamp, in the PSU Stone Valley Forest, has been
a crucial part of this research because the unusually high density
of newts in this wetland allows us to test hypotheses requiring sample
sizes which would otherwise be impossible to obtain. Mothersbaugh
has been an important part of the study of seasonal dynamics in infection
and immunity of amphibians and in a mark-recapture study designed
to obtain parameter estimates for an epidemiological model of Ichthyophonus
infection in newts. Through these research projects, Important insights
have been gained into the transmission dynamics of this important
pathogen, into the community ecology of newt parasites, and into the
effects of seasonal temperature fluctuations on amphibians' immune
defenses. |
(Above)
Newt with Severe Clinostomum Infection
|
