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Environmental Microbiology Reports Jun 2024The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has caused declines of amphibians worldwide. Yet our understanding of how water quality influences fungal...
The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has caused declines of amphibians worldwide. Yet our understanding of how water quality influences fungal pathogenicity is limited. Here, we reviewed experimental studies on the effect of water quality on this pathogen to determine which parameters impacted disease dynamics consistently. The strongest evidence for protective effects is salinity which shows strong antifungal properties in hosts at natural levels. Although many fungicides had detrimental effects on the fungal pathogen in vitro, their impact on the host is variable and they can worsen infection outcomes. However, one fungicide, epoxiconazole, reduced disease effects experimentally and likely in the field. While heavy metals are frequently studied, there is weak evidence that they influence infection outcomes. Nitrogen and phosphorous do not appear to impact pathogen growth or infection in the amphibian host. The effects of other chemicals, like pesticides and disinfectants on infection were mostly unclear with mixed results or lacking an in vivo component. Our study shows that water chemistry does impact disease dynamics, but the effects of specific parameters require more investigation. Improving our understanding of how water chemistry influences disease dynamics will help predict the impact of chytridiomycosis, especially in amphibian populations affected by land use changes.
Topics: Animals; Batrachochytrium; Amphibians; Water Quality; Mycoses; Salinity; Fungicides, Industrial; Chytridiomycota; Pesticides; Disinfectants; Antifungal Agents
PubMed: 38775382
DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.13274 -
Movement Ecology May 2024The relationship between animal dispersal and conspecific density has been explored in various study systems but results in terms of both the magnitude and the direction...
The relationship between animal dispersal and conspecific density has been explored in various study systems but results in terms of both the magnitude and the direction of density dependence are inconsistent. We conducted a thorough review of the literature (2000-2023) and found k = 97 empirical studies of birds, fishes, herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles), invertebrates, or mammals that had tested for a correlation between conspecific density and animal dispersal. We extracted categorical variables for taxonomic group, sex, age, migratory behavior, study design, dispersal metric, density metric and variable type, as well as temporal and spatial scale, to test each of their correlation with the effect of density on dispersal (Pearson's r) using linear regressions and multilevel mixed-effect modelling. We found certain biases in the published literature, highlighting that the impact of conspecific density on dispersal is not as widespread as it is thought to be. We also found no predominant trend for density-dependent dispersal across taxonomic groups. Instead, results show that the scale and metrics of empirical observations significantly affected analytical results, and heterogeneity measures were high within taxonomic groups. Therefore, the direction and magnitude of the interaction between density and dispersal in empirical studies could partially be attributed to the data collection method involved. We suggest that the contradictory observations for density-dependent dispersal could be explained by dispersal-dependent density, where density is driven by movement instead, and urge researchers to either test this interaction when applicable or consider this perspective when reporting results.
PubMed: 38773669
DOI: 10.1186/s40462-024-00478-6 -
PloS One 2024Biodiversity is in rapid decline globally with agriculture being one of the leading causes. Within agricultural landscapes, some features provide a benefit to...
Biodiversity is in rapid decline globally with agriculture being one of the leading causes. Within agricultural landscapes, some features provide a benefit to biodiversity that is disproportionate to their spatial area. An interesting example is artificial ponds-or farm dams-which can support a large variety of taxa. Here, we present a global review of farm dam research related to biodiversity conservation objectives to provide an overview of the topics, key research insights, and the characteristics of current research. We used a three-stage process to screen literature and identified 104 relevant papers across 27 countries encompassing studies of 13 different taxa. Most of the studies were short-term (less than 5 years) with small sample sizes (less than 20 sites). Of the 104 papers, 88 were focussed primarily on ecological outcomes, such as species richness or abundance, and 15 on primary production outcomes, such as crop and livestock yield, despite addressing or measuring ecological metrics. Only one study measured both ecological and primary production outcomes. Studies frequently examined how the features of dams (79 studies) and attributes of the surrounding landscape (47 studies) impact particular species and communities. Terrestrial mammals (1 study) were under-represented in the literature with macrophytes (28 studies), macroinvertebrates (26 studies), and amphibians (19 studies) receiving the most attention. Our results reveal a growing trend towards recognizing farm dams as habitats for various taxa, including amphibians, beetles, dragonflies, and other macroinvertebrates within agricultural environments. Significant knowledge gaps exist in understanding how dam age, invasive species, and effective management practices impact the biodiversity conservation values of farm dams. Future research should emphasize enhancing biodiversity by collaborating with landholders to increase habitat through strategic vegetation planning, minimizing runoff and nutrient inflow, and restricting stock access.
Topics: Biodiversity; Conservation of Natural Resources; Animals; Farms; Agriculture; Ecosystem
PubMed: 38739606
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303504 -
Journal of Ethnobiology and... Jul 2023Human societies have food taboos as social rules that restrict access to a particular animal. Taboos are pointed out as tools for the conservation of animals,... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Human societies have food taboos as social rules that restrict access to a particular animal. Taboos are pointed out as tools for the conservation of animals, considering that the presence of this social rule prevents the consumption of animals. This work consists of a systematic review that aimed to verify how food taboos vary between different animal species, and how this relationship has influenced their conservation.
METHODS
For this systematic review, the search for articles by keywords took place in the databases "Science Direct," Scopus," "SciELo" and "Web of Science," associating the term "taboo" with the taxa "amphibians," "birds," "mammals," "fish" and "reptiles." From this search, 3959 titles were found related to the key terms of the research. After the entire screening process carried out by paired reviewers, only 25 articles were included in the search.
RESULTS
It was identified that 100 species of animals are related to some type of taboo, and segmental taboos and specific taboos were predominant, with 93 and 31 citations, respectively. In addition, the taxon with the most taboos recorded was fish, followed by mammals. Our findings indicate that the taboo protects 99% of the animal species mentioned, being a crucial tool for the conservation of these species.
CONCLUSIONS
The present study covered the status of current knowledge about food taboos associated with wildlife in the world. It is noticeable that taboos have a considerable effect on animal conservation, as the social restrictions imposed by taboos effectively contribute to the local conservation of species.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Animals, Wild; Food; Taboo; Mammals
PubMed: 37454092
DOI: 10.1186/s13002-023-00600-9 -
The Science of the Total Environment May 2023Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the fastest growing biomonitoring tool fuelled by two key features: time efficiency and sensitivity. Technological advancements allow rapid... (Review)
Review
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the fastest growing biomonitoring tool fuelled by two key features: time efficiency and sensitivity. Technological advancements allow rapid biodiversity detection at both species and community levels with increasing accuracy. Concurrently, there has been a global demand to standardise eDNA methods, but this is only possible with an in-depth overview of the technological advancements and a discussion of the pros and cons of available methods. We therefore conducted a systematic literature review of 407 peer-reviewed papers on aquatic eDNA published between 2012 and 2021. We observed a gradual increase in the annual number of publications from four (2012) to 28 (2018), followed by a rapid growth to 124 publications in 2021. This was mirrored by a tremendous diversification of methods in all aspects of the eDNA workflow. For example, in 2012 only freezing was applied to preserve filter samples, whereas we recorded 12 different preservation methods in the 2021 literature. Despite an ongoing standardisation debate in the eDNA community, the field is seemingly moving fast in the opposite direction and we discuss the reasons and implications. Moreover, by compiling the largest PCR-primer database to date, we provide information on 522 and 141 published species-specific and metabarcoding primers targeting a wide range of aquatic organisms. This works as a user-friendly 'distillation' of primer information that was hitherto scattered across hundreds of papers, but the list also reflects which taxa are commonly studied with eDNA technology in aquatic environments such as fish and amphibians, and reveals that groups such as corals, plankton and algae are under-studied. Efforts to improve sampling and extraction methods, primer specificity and reference databases are crucial to capture these ecologically important taxa in future eDNA biomonitoring surveys. In a rapidly diversifying field, this review synthetises aquatic eDNA procedures and can guide eDNA users towards best practice.
Topics: Animals; DNA, Environmental; Biological Monitoring; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; Environmental Monitoring; Biodiversity; Fishes
PubMed: 36801404
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162322 -
PeerJ 2023Thoroughly documenting prey items and diet composition is crucial for understanding a predator's role in the ecosystem. In gape restricted predators, such as snakes,...
Thoroughly documenting prey items and diet composition is crucial for understanding a predator's role in the ecosystem. In gape restricted predators, such as snakes, documenting and analyzing the type and size of the prey is important to interpret their ecological role. We describe the diet patterns of a species of venomous snake, the Terciopelo pit viper (), from its Ecuadorian populations. Examining the gastrointestinal contents of museum specimens collected over an extensive area of the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador, we encountered 69 identifiable prey items from four major taxonomic groups (amphibians, centipedes, mammals, and reptiles). We evaluated the observed composition of prey to check for differences between sexes and size-classes. To complement our observations of the Terciopelo species complex throughout their distribution, we carried out a systematic literature review. Our data show an ontogenetic shift in diet, with a transition from more diverse diet in juveniles towards a mammal-specialized diet in adults, and distinct proportion of prey taxa between the sexes in the juvenile size class.
Topics: Animals; Bothrops; Crotalinae; Ecosystem; Ecuador; Snakes; Mammals
PubMed: 36785705
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14817 -
Gastroenterology and Hepatology From... 2022This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the subtyped sp. isolated from humans in Iran. (Review)
Review
AIM
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the subtyped sp. isolated from humans in Iran.
BACKGROUND
sp. is an anaerobic intestinal protozoan that infects humans as well as domestic and wild animals, i.e. mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods.
METHODS
A comprehensive search for papers published before April 2022 was undertaken utilizing English and Persian databases. The following MeSH keywords were used in the electronic search: ( sp.) AND (molecular OR subtype) AND (prevalence OR epidemiology) AND Iran. The quality of the included studies was evaluated. Thereafter, a random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence and odds ratios regarding the included studies.
RESULTS
A total of 32 studies comprised of five case-control studies and 27 cross-sectional studies met the eligibility criteria. The overall pooled prevalence of subtyped sp. in Iran was estimated to be 10% (95% confidence interval: 6 to 15%). Eight subtypes of sp. (ST1- ST7 and ST9) were identified in our study, of which ST3 was the most common subtype (0.04); 0.02-0.07). The difference in subtypes between two case and control groups in reported studies was not significant, but the odds ratio of infection by ST3 (0.98; 95% CI, 0.30 to 3.20) was higher in cases.
CONCLUSION
The current systematic review showed that with the exception of ST8 and ST12, all human sp. subtypes reported in the world are found in different parts of Iran.
PubMed: 36762220
DOI: 10.22037/ghfbb.v15i4.2475 -
EcoHealth Dec 2022Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a species related to the destructive pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), was found and identified in Europe in 2013....
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a species related to the destructive pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), was found and identified in Europe in 2013. Now, a decade later, a large amount of information is available. This includes data from studies in the field, reports of infection in captive amphibians, laboratory studies testing host susceptibility, and data from prospective studies that test for Bsal's presence in a location. We conducted a systematic review of the published literature and compiled a dataset of Bsal tests. We identified 67 species that have been reported positive for Bsal, 20 of which have a threatened conservation status. The distribution of species that have been found with infection encompasses 69 countries, highlighting the potential threat that Bsal poses. We point out where surveillance to detect Bsal have taken place and highlight areas that have not been well monitored. The large number of host species belonging to the families Plethodontidae and Salamandridae suggests a taxonomic pattern of susceptibility. Our results provide insight into the risk posed by Bsal and identifies vulnerable species and areas where surveillance is needed to fill existing knowledge gaps.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Batrachochytrium; Prospective Studies; Chytridiomycota; Mycoses; Amphibians
PubMed: 36611108
DOI: 10.1007/s10393-022-01620-9 -
Veterinary Medicine and Science Nov 2022Spirometra infection is aneglected food- and waterborne disease with worldwide distribution. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Spirometra infection is aneglected food- and waterborne disease with worldwide distribution.
OBJECTIVES
The present study aims to estimate the global prevalence of Spirometra species in snakes, frogs, dogs and cats.
METHODS
Multiple databases (PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science and Google Scholar) were searched for relevant literatures published up to March 2022.
RESULTS
Among 131 data sets (including 113 articles) that met the inclusion, 15 investigations reported Spirometra infection in snakes, 23 in frogs, 41 in dogs and 52 in cats. The pooled prevalence (95% confidence interval) in intermediate hosts and definitive hosts was found to be 0.313% and 0.089%, respectively. Based on continent, the infection was most prevalent in Asia for studies on snakes (0.696%) and frogs (0.181%), while Africa (0.224%) and Oceania (0.203%) were the regions with the highest pooled prevalence rates of the infection in dogs and cats, respectively. Among different diagnostic methods, the highest pooled prevalence was related to morphological method for studies on snakes, frog and cats with rate of 0.665%, 0.189% and 0.104%, respectively. Regarding studies on dogs, the highest pooled prevalence was observed for molecular technique (0.101%).
CONCLUSIONS
The results presented here revealed the importance of establishing a prevention and control measure focused on protection of aquaculture systems from being contaminated with faeces of dogs and cats, and raising awareness of parasitic zoonotic diseases to decrease the transmission risk.
Topics: Cats; Dogs; Animals; Spirometra; Parasites; Cat Diseases; Prevalence; Dog Diseases; Cestode Infections; Snakes
PubMed: 36084292
DOI: 10.1002/vms3.932 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2021Chytridiomycosis is an amphibian fungal disease caused by (), which has caused large-scale death and population declines on several continents around the world. To...
Chytridiomycosis is an amphibian fungal disease caused by (), which has caused large-scale death and population declines on several continents around the world. To determine the current status of infection in amphibians, we conducted a global meta-analysis. Using PubMed, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang database searches, we retrieved a total of 111 articles from 2000 to 2021. Based on these, we estimated the prevalence to be 18.54% (95% CI: 13.76-20.52) in current extent amphibians. Among these populations, the prevalence of in Asia was the lowest at 7.88% (95% CI: 1.92-8.71). Further, no infection was found in Vietnam. However, the prevalence of in Oceania was the highest at 36.34% (95% CI: 11.31-46.52). The prevalence in Venezuela was as high as 49.77% (95% CI: 45.92-53.62). After 2009, the global prevalence decreased to 18.91% (95% CI: 13.23-21.56). The prevalence of in epizootic populations was significantly higher than enzootic populations. The highest prevalence of was detected with real-time PCR at 20.11% (95% CI: 13.12-21.38). The prevalence of in frogs was the highest at 20.04% (95% CI: 13.52-21.71), and this different host was statistically significant ( < 0.05). At the same time, we analyzed the geographic factors (longitude, latitude, elevation, rainfall and temperature) that impacted the fungal prevalence in amphibians. Our meta-analysis revealed that factors including region, disease dynamic, detection method, host and climate may be sources of the observed heterogeneity. These results indicate that chytridiomycosis was a consistent threat to amphibians from 2000 to 2021. Based on different habitat types and geographical conditions, we recommend formulating corresponding control plans and adopting reasonable and efficient biological or chemical methods to reduce the severity of such diseases.
PubMed: 34977222
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.791237