Life Sciences Commons^™

Species-Level Correlates Of Susceptibility To The Pathogenic Amphibian Fungus Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis In The United States, Betsy Bancroft, Barbara Han, Catherine Searle, Lindsay Biga, Deanna Olson, Lee Kats, Joshua Lawler, Andrew Blaustein

Lee Kats

Disease is often implicated as a factor in population declines of wildlife and plants. Understanding the characteristics that may predispose a species to infection by a particular pathogen can help direct conservation efforts. Recent declines in amphibian populations world-wide are a major conservation issue and may be caused in part by a fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). We used Random Forest, a machine learning approach, to identify species-level characteristics that may be related to susceptibility to Bd. Our results suggest that body size at maturity, aspects of egg laying behavior, taxonomic order and family, and reliance on water are good …