A far-reaching global study led by University of Colorado Boulder scientists has found that climate is a critical determinant of microbial diversity on amphibian skin, with colder, more variable temperatures producing richer bacterial communities than warmer, more stable environments.
A far-reaching global study led by University of Colorado Boulder scientists has found that climate is a critical determinant of microbial diversity on amphibian skin, with colder, more variable temperatures producing richer bacterial communities than warmer, more stable environments.
The findings, recently published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, are the result of the largest geographical study of the amphibian microbiome in history, with dozens of researchers from 31 institutions combining to sample over 2,300 specimens, encompassing 205 species in 12 countries on five continents.
Amphibian dermal microbes are known to shape their hosts’ health and physiology, but the patterns and prevalence of these communities have remained poorly understood at a global scale. Amphibians have become increasingly threatened by habitat losses and fungal infections in recent decades, leading to greater research emphasis on environmental factors that could either help or hinder their survival.
Surprisingly, the new study found that while amphibian species diversity tends to increase in temperate and tropical areas of the world, microbial diversity does the opposite.
Read more at University of Colorado at Boulder
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