Spatial and Temporal patterns of Amphibian Disease in Acadia National Park Wetlands.

Gahl, Megan

Includes an appendix of amphibian diseases confirmed or suspected in Acadia National Park, and for each disease, describes life stage and species affected, transmission, field and gross sign, and diagnosis. The following taken from abstract: 'Amphibian mortality events in protected and relatively pristine settings have increased dramatically over the past two decades. We investigated larval die-off events in Acadia National Park (ANP), Maine, USA, to determine disease ecology and incidence on three scales: landscape, within a single breeding pond, and species-specific responses. For the landscape approach, we examined 60 amphibian breeding wetlands of varying disease history to determine landscape features specific to wetlands that sustained mortality events caused by ranavirus. We used logistic regression and model selection criterion (QAICc) to identify landscape features key to predicting ranavirus incidence. High catchment position was the most important landscape feature associated with larval mortality events. No spatial autocorrelation of disease events was observed, suggesting that within our study area, epizootics are not clustered and landscape and within-pond stressors may be more influential in ranavirus occurrence than vector movement.' /STUDY LOCATIONS://MOUNT DESERT ISLAND/