Integrative and objective science is the best link between amphibian decline research and conservation on the ground

The amphibian decline crisis has prompted an extraordinary proliferation of research in various relevant areas, both in the laboratory and in the field. This high level of activity is essential to inform sound conservation action on the ground, and will be most useful if coordinated through an objective, critical and integrative approach to amphibian decline research. We focus on studies surrounding the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, and caution scientists to refrain from establishing unsubstantiated dogma about the nature of the relationship between chytrid and population declines. To provide the best possible direction for conservation, investigators should continue to collaborate in studies that integrate across disease, amphibians and the environment, and to pursue novel and transformative research initiatives.