Lack of Evidence for the Drought-linked Chytridiomycosis Hypothesis

Abstract

A significant amount of recent research has focused on the potentially synergistic roles of climate change and disease in causing amphibian declines and extinctions. Herein I discuss the drought-linked chytridiomycosis hypothesis (DLCH), which states that prolonged or intensified dry seasons trigger or exacerbate epidemics of chytridiomycosis, a potentially lethal skin disease of amphibians caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. I demonstrate that the DLCH runs contrary to our knowledge of B. dendrobatidis physiology, biogeography, and host-parasite ecology and conclude that abnormally dry weather should actually favor amphibians by decreasing the prevalence, severity, and spread of chytridiomycosis.