earticle

영어

The American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus, has been described as a vector and reservoir of chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which has devastated many amphibian populations around the world. However, the prevalence of Bd carried by L. catesbeianus on local amphibian populations is infrequently tested. In the Republic of Korea, the introduced L. catesbeianus is known to be a predator of local amphibian species, including the endangered Dryophytes suweonensis and the ubiquitous D. japonicus. In this study we showed that the presence of L. catesbeianus results in a significant increase in Bd prevalence in the two treefrog species. Furthermore, Bd prevalence was four times higher in the endangered D. suweonensis than in the common D. japonicus for all 37 sites tested. In addition, the sites with L. catesbeianus were striking by the absence of D. suweonensisin their immediate vicinity. Although the factors for the negative impact of L. catesbeianus on D. suweonensis population cannot yet be established, L. catesbeianus-borne chytrid fungus is likely one of the causes for D. suweonensis decline.