The amphibian pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has been the cause of mass declines of amphibian populations worldwide (Berger et al. 1998). This pathogen has been shown to infect approximately 387 different amphibian species and causes declines in approximately 200 species (Skerratt et al. 2009). The total impact on amphibian biodiversity as well as their ecosystems has yet to be determined but it has already been suspected in some species extinctions (Schloegel et al. 2006). The distribution of this amphibian pathogen has been described by two competing hypotheses, the novel and endemic pathogen hypotheses. The endemic pathogen hypothesis states that the pathogen has always been a part of the ecosystem and has only recently become pathogenic due to environmental factors. The novel pathogen hypothesis states that the pathogen has just recently been introduced and has encountered a naïve host which has resulted in population declines (Rachowicz et al. 2005). Research into these two hypotheses has been very active yet the results have still been conflicted (Pounds et al. 2006; James et al. 2009). In our study we assess two relatively under surveyed locations for the presence of Bd, both in Peninsular Malaysia and British Columbia (BC). The results of the amphibian survey showed that Bd was currently ubiquitous throughout the province of BC. This was coupled with a population genetic evaluation of two Bd strains in British Columbia which led us to conclude that they were a part of a novel pathogen which may have been introduced through the amphibian trade possibly from the east coast of Canada. During the first two years of surveying for the presence of Bd in Peninsular Malaysia we found no evidence of the pathogen. In the third and final year of the survey we did discover low prevalence of the pathogen, which was supported by a recently published report of initial Bd detection in Peninsular Malaysia (Savage et al. 2011). We were not able to definitively state which of the competing hypotheses (NPH vs EPH) was correct for either collection region. Our population genetic results for two isolates collected from Bullfrogs on Vancouver Island suggest that Bd may have been introduced via the animal trade however the endemicity for the rest of the province remains unresolved. In peninsular Malaysia Bd may represent a novel pathogen or it could exist as an endemic pathogen with a low prevalence. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/3931 |
| Date | 27 April 2012 |
| Creators | LeBlanc, Jonathon |
| Contributors | Hintz, William E. A. |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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