Amphibian predator-insect prey relationships are common in terrestrial habitats, but amphibian larvae are preyed upon by a variety of aquatic hemipterans in aquatic habitats. This paper suggests that the survival of the nymphs of the endangered aquatic hemipteran Kirkaldyia (=Lethocerus) deyrolli (Belostomatidae: Heteroptera) is directly and indirectly affected by the abundance of their amphibi...

Despite the importance of ex situ conservation programmes as highlighted in the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan, there are few empirical studies that examine the influence of captive conditions on the fitness of amphibians, even for basic components of enclosure design such as cover provision. Maintaining the fitness of captive amphibian populations is essential to the success of ex situ con...

Peptidomics and genomics analyses were used to study an anti-infection array of peptides of amphibian skin. 372 cDNA sequences of antimicrobial peptides were characterized from a single individual skin of the frog Odorrana grahami that encode 107 novel antimicrobial peptides. This contribution almost triples the number of currently reported amphibian antimicrobial peptides. The peptides could b...

Symbiotic microbes can dramatically impact host health and fitness, and recent research in a diversity of systems suggests that different symbiont community structures may result in distinct outcomes for the host. In amphibians, some symbiotic skin bacteria produce metabolites that inhibit the growth of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a cutaneous fungal pathogen that has caused many amphib...

Amphibian species are declining at an alarming rate on a global scale in large part owing to an infectious disease caused by the chytridiomycete fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This disease of amphibians has recently emerged within Europe, but knowledge of its effects on amphibian assemblages remains poor. Importantly, little is known about the environmental envelope that is associated ...

The emergence of amphibian chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has led to the decline and extinction of numerous amphibian species. Multiple studies have observed links between climatic factors and amphibian declines apparently caused by Bd. Using outdoor experimental mesocosms, we tested the response of red-legged frog (Rana aurora) tadpoles to increased ...

Translocations are important tools in the field of conservation. Despite increased use over the last few decades, the appropriateness of translocations for amphibians and reptiles has been debated widely over the past 20 years. To provide a comprehensive evaluation of the suitability of amphibians and reptiles for translocation, we reviewed the results of amphibian and reptile translocation pro...

The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has caused declines of many amphibian populations, yet the full course of the epizootic has rarely been observed in wild populations. We determined effects of elevation, habitat, and aquatic index (AI) on prevalence of infection among Panamanian amphibians sampled along 2 elevational transects. Amphibian populations on the Santa Fé trans...

Amphibian skin secretion has great potential for drug discovery and contributes hundreds of bioactive peptides including bradykinin-related peptides (BRPs). More than 50 BRPs have been reported in the last two decades arising from the skin secretion of amphibian species. They belong to the families Ascaphidae (1 species), Bombinatoridae (3 species), Hylidae (9 speices) and Ranidae (25 species)....

1. Agricultural practices such as cattle farming may have direct or indirect negative effects on larval amphibians by decreasing water quality through deposition of nitrogenous waste, causing eutrophication, and grazing shoreline vegetation that contributes to detrital cover and food. 2. We sampled amphibian larvae on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee, U.S.A., twice per week, water quality twic...