Hanging out with the cool frogs: Do operative and body temperatures explain population response to disease?

TL;DRAbstract

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a fungal pathogen causing amphibian population declines. Bd has a narrow thermal tolerance and requires moisture to survive. Differences in frog biology, pathogen biology or temperature and moisture conditions may determine population response to disease. Population responses to Bd vary among sites, habitats, species and populations. In the tropics, stream-dwelling species decline to a greater degree than forest species, yet not all stream species decline to extirpation and not all forest species survive. I hypothesized that variation in operative temperature (Te) or body temperature (Tb) might explain differences in host population change documented among sites, seasons, habitats, and species. I sampled three moist-forest Panamanian sites (elevation 375 - 1300 m) during 2.5 months of the 2008 wet season and four different moist-forest sites (elevation 400 - 1300 m) during 3 weeks of the 2008 dry season. I measured Te and Tb of anurans along strea

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