No Bd in Alpine salamanders

A new paper by Stefan Lötters et al. published in Salamandra shows that the Alpine salamander Salamandra atra is not infected with Bd. (Photo credit: Uli Schulte)

If you have a long one you have more success

Multiple sexual traits are important assessment criteria for female mate choice. In the palmate newt you, as a male, need to have a long one (tail filament), and should actively court, if you want to seduce your female. This new RACE-article on the palmate newt sets a baseline for the importance of multiple sexual signalling for better understanding the non-lethal impact of diseases like Bd and Amphibiocystidium on the reproduction of newts. The article has been published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

Fear of Fungi

Fisher et al. have recently produced a review and metanalysis of temporal trends in fungal emerging disease. The paper is in Nature and argues that nascent fungal infections, such as Bd will cause increasing attrition of biodiversity unless steps are taken to tighten biosecurity worldwide.

Bd and population trends

A new paper shows that the presence of Bd had no measurable effect on trends of populations of Alytes obstetricans in Switzerland (at least under current environmental conditions), a species known to be susceptible to Bd. The paper (open access) can be found here.