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The Last South American Redoubt? Tested Surinamese Anurans Still Chytrid Free

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Abstract

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a chytrid fungus infecting amphibians’ cutaneous layer, is responsible for the greatest contemporary loss of amphibian biodiversity. In South America, Suriname is one of the only three countries where B. dendrobatidis infections of anurans (frogs and toads) have not been documented. To further examine this apparent gap in pathogen occurrence, frogs were sampled for B. dendrobatidis spores at eight disparate geographic locations in Suriname, including locations with high and low levels of anthropogenic activities, and near Suriname’s border with Brazil and French Guiana, countries where B. dendrobatidis infections have been documented. None of the 347 frogs sampled, representing 37 species from eight families, tested positive for B. dendrobatidis. Our results provide the baseline data for future comparative testing and one of the last opportunities for a country in South America to proactively plan mitigation measures to protect amphibians from B. dendrobatidis’ presumed eventual incursion into Suriname.

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Data Availability

The dataset generated during the current study are available in the figshare repository, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16615981.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Paul Ouboter, from the National Zoological Collection of Suriname for support and advice during the time spent in Suriname. Kirsten Curran, Dallas Davidson, Christian H. d’Orgeix, Sabria Greiner, De’Jah Hardy, Raissa Kemajou, Cameron Lockett, Alyssia Velez, Ahnaia White, and Sarah Melissa Witiak participated in surveying frogs. The Trio indigenous people granted us permission to work in the Sipaliwini savanna and provided lodging, transportation and guides to the forest island sites. We thank the anonymous reviewers from this journal, and William R. Jones whose comments have improved this manuscript. All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Permits for the fieldwork were granted by the Nature Conservation Department of Suriname. This work was supported in part by the HBCU-UP of the National Science Foundation under NSF Cooperative Agreement No. HRD-1036286 to C.A. d’Orgeix. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Zoological Collection of Suriname, Anton de Kom Universiteit, Paramaribo, Suriname

    Rawien Jairam

  2. Department of Biology, Virginia State University, P.O. Box 9064, Petersburg, VA, 23806, USA

    Akira Harris & Christian A. d’Orgeix

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  1. Rawien Jairam
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  3. Christian A. d’Orgeix
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Correspondence to Christian A. d’Orgeix.

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Jairam, R., Harris, A. & d’Orgeix, C.A. The Last South American Redoubt? Tested Surinamese Anurans Still Chytrid Free. EcoHealth 18, 465–474 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-021-01566-4

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