Testing the Relationship Between Land Use and the Presence of a Lethal Amphibian Disease
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Howard Whiteman
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Chytridiomycosis is an amphibian-killing disease that has caused drastic declines and extinctions across all amphibian populations. While there are several years of research on the fungus that causes the disease, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), little is known about the biotic factors that could impact its spread or persistence. This research aimed at whether or not land use was an important biotic factor for Bd's presence on the landscape. To determine such, Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling and a Principal Coordinate Analysis were performed to determine if these correlations exist. Both analyses suggest that there is no land use pattern associated with Bd sites, and the land use variables did not explain the amount of variation seen with the Bd distribution data.
Location
Large Ballroom, Curris Center
Start Date
April 2016
End Date
April 2016
Testing the Relationship Between Land Use and the Presence of a Lethal Amphibian Disease
Large Ballroom, Curris Center
Chytridiomycosis is an amphibian-killing disease that has caused drastic declines and extinctions across all amphibian populations. While there are several years of research on the fungus that causes the disease, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), little is known about the biotic factors that could impact its spread or persistence. This research aimed at whether or not land use was an important biotic factor for Bd's presence on the landscape. To determine such, Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling and a Principal Coordinate Analysis were performed to determine if these correlations exist. Both analyses suggest that there is no land use pattern associated with Bd sites, and the land use variables did not explain the amount of variation seen with the Bd distribution data.