ORCID Profile
0000-0002-7745-9990
Current Organisation
University of Colorado at Boulder
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Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 17-12-2012
Abstract: Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis , a pathogenic chytrid fungus implicated in worldwide hibian declines, is considered an hibian specialist. Identification of non hibian hosts could help explain the virulence, heterogeneous distribution, variable rates of spread, and persistence of B. dendrobatidis in freshwater ecosystems even after hibian extirpations. Here, we test whether mosquitofish ( Gambusia holbrooki) and crayfish ( Procambarus spp. and Orconectes virilis ), which are syntopic with many hibian species, are possible hosts for B. dendrobatidis . Field surveys in Louisiana and Colorado revealed that zoosporangia occur within crayfish gastrointestinal tracts, that B. dendrobatidis prevalence in crayfish was up to 29%, and that crayfish presence in Colorado wetlands was a positive predictor of B. dendrobatidis infections in cooccurring hibians. In experiments, crayfish, but not mosquitofish, became infected with B. dendrobatidis , maintained the infection for at least 12 wk, and transmitted B. dendrobatidis to hibians. Exposure to water that previously held B. dendrobatidis also caused significant crayfish mortality and gill recession. These results indicate that there are non hibian hosts for B. dendrobatidis and suggest that B. dendrobatidis releases a chemical that can cause host pathology, even in the absence of infection. Managing these biological reservoirs for B. dendrobatidis and identifying this chemical might provide new hope for imperiled hibians.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECS2.3833
Abstract: It is a critical time to reflect on the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) science to date as well as envision what research can be done right now with NEON (and other) data and what training is needed to enable a erse user community. NEON became fully operational in May 2019 and has pivoted from planning and construction to operation and maintenance. In this overview, the history of and foundational thinking around NEON are discussed. A framework of open science is described with a discussion of how NEON can be situated as part of a larger data constellation—across existing networks and different suites of ecological measurements and sensors. Next, a synthesis of early NEON science, based on existing publications, funded proposal efforts, and emergent science at the very first NEON Science Summit (hosted by Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in October 2019) is provided. Key questions that the ecology community will address with NEON data in the next 10 yr are outlined, from understanding drivers of bio ersity across spatial and temporal scales to defining complex feedback mechanisms in human–environmental systems. Last, the essential elements needed to engage and support a erse and inclusive NEON user community are highlighted: training resources and tools that are openly available, funding for broad community engagement initiatives, and a mechanism to share and advertise those opportunities. NEON users require both the skills to work with NEON data and the ecological or environmental science domain knowledge to understand and interpret them. This paper synthesizes early directions in the community’s use of NEON data, and opportunities for the next 10 yr of NEON operations in emergent science themes, open science best practices, education and training, and community building.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-02-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-0798-1
Abstract: Animal-associated microbiomes are integral to host health, yet key biotic and abiotic factors that shape host-associated microbial communities at the global scale remain poorly understood. We investigated global patterns in hibian skin bacterial communities, incorporating s les from 2,349 in iduals representing 205 hibian species across a broad biogeographic range. We analysed how biotic and abiotic factors correlate with skin microbial communities using multiple statistical approaches. Global hibian skin bacterial richness was consistently correlated with temperature-associated factors. We found more erse skin microbiomes in environments with colder winters and less stable thermal conditions compared with environments with warm winters and less annual temperature variation. We used bioinformatically predicted bacterial growth rates, dormancy genes and antibiotic synthesis genes, as well as inferred bacterial thermal growth optima to propose mechanistic hypotheses that may explain the observed patterns. We conclude that temporal and spatial characteristics of the host's macro-environment mediate microbial ersity.
No related grants have been discovered for Maxwell Joseph.