Stressors to native species under global change: Invasive species as vectors of infectious disease
As climate change progresses, invasive species will play an increasingly prominent role in mediating the spread of infectious diseases around the world. This research will investigate the role of invasive bullfrogs in spreading chytridiomycosis via the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) to native amphibian populations. Invasive bullfrog populations now occur in numerous countries, and they compete with or prey on native frog species. In addition, bullfrogs are resistant to Bd and act as vectors in spreading Bd to native populations. This research will combine observational field studies with controlled laboratory experiments to disentangle the effects of invasive bullfrogs and Bd infection on native frogs, providing a framework for evaluating the potential for invasive species to serve as disease vectors. Moreover, the approach taken here is broadly applicable to other combinations of stressors, species pairs, and regions of the world, and will be particularly relevant as climate change broadly affects native-invasive and host-pathogen interactions in systems around the world.
Approaches to broadening participation in ecological research will include an educational outreach program for high-school students and a training workshop for their teachers. These programs will give students and teachers the opportunity to form their own hypotheses, design a study to test those hypotheses, collect field data, analyze results, and present their studies to peers. The course for high school students will provide a valuable opportunity for students to conduct their own ecological research in the unique Sierra Nevada ecosystem, and the teacher workshop will build the content knowledge necessary to incorporate ecological research into high school learning objectives.
