Joyce E. Longcore

TL;DR: The experiments demonstrated that Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis can be a fatal pathogen in poison dart frogs and the experimentally-induced disease in these frogs resembled cases of cutaneous chytridiomycosis that have recently been described in several other species of captive and wild amphibians.

TL;DR: First direct evidence that antimicrobial peptides in the skin can operate as a first line of defense against the organisms associated with global amphibian declines is shown, suggesting that this innate defense mechanism may play a role in preventing or limiting infection by these organisms.

TL;DR: This work uses sequencing of environmental DNA, culturing of isolates, and analysis of environmental variables to show that members of the Chytridiomycota (chytrids) dominate fungal biodiversity and perhaps decomposition processes in plant-free, high-elevation soils from the highest mountain ranges on Earth.

TL;DR: The ecology and evolution of Bd in the Americas is reviewed and controversies that make this disease so enigmatic are highlighted and the concept of “the Ghost of Epizootics Past” is introduced to discuss expected patterns in postepizootic host communities.

TL;DR: The relatively high infection rates among species without documented die-offs suggest that either losses have occurred undetected, that the fungus is endemic and species have attained a level of resistance to infections becoming lethal, or that climatic conditions of the Northeast have a role in preventing infections from being lethal.