TWS2014

TWS2014 is turning out to be quite the productive, collaborative conference! Of course I'm a bit biased, but it is refreshing to see talks from and meet with all the amazing people in the field of ranavirus research (without any of them saying "Is that like Bd?" - can I get an "amen" from the RV people!).  On a related note, for all things ranavirus...if I haven't already posted this...check out the Global Ranavirus Consortium for updates and publication lists. Dr. Matthew Gray, GRC director, U Tennessee faculty member & coordinator of the UT Wetlands Program has done a great job with collaborators organizing the GRC site and publishing the first ever book on ranavirus, which we're all SUPER excited about. Look for the book coming out early 2015.
I have also met lots of other students/researchers working on some great ranavirus monitoring projects around the country, and will give a shout out to a very motivated undergrad, Brandon Perrone, working with Dr. Bridgette Hagerty at York College in PA. They are monitoring a local vernal pool for RV prevalence in both tadpoles and adults, and projects like this are exactly what we need to develop a deeper understanding of where and when these outbreaks hit.

The Wildlife Society Conference 2014

The ARVP will be making its national conference debut at TWS 2014! Check out the conference at wildlifesociety.org. I will be presenting a poster at the student research in progress poster session entitled "Environmental factors affecting ranavirus prevalence among aquatic-breeding amphibians in natural and constructed ponds". New addition to poster: preliminary results!!! Follow me on twitter @codenameribbit for a play-by-play at the conference.

First 2014 die-off observed

First, to start off on a high note before the misery soon to follow, let me show you some new metamorphs! These cute little wood frogs are starting to emerge from the pools, and they can be found around Heiberg in various sizes and states of metamorphosis. Many things can affect the size of newly morphed frogs, including genetics, egg size, population density, competition, food availability, and cannibalism (yes, there are tadpole cannibals!). For a good basic read on the subject (Berven & Chadra 1988), click here. 

One pre-existing pool was surrounded by some of the tiniest emerging wood frogs I've ever seen! This one, at Gosner stage 45, was only about 7mm long.

This metamorph from a different site is nearly twice the body length (snout-vent) as the one above, but at Gosner stage 43-44 is not as far along in development.

Now for the doom and gloom. The artificial vernal pools in Heiberg Forest were constructed in groups of 1, 3, or 9 pools using a hexagonal grid to separate the groupings. Hexagon 5, the site of die-offs observed in previous years, has experienced yet another wood frog die-off beginning July 10 of this year. At least 3 of the 9 pools were affected. Most wood frog tadpoles had already died and begun decomposing, and those sampled alive were lethargic, swimming erratically, and/or had visible signs of ranavirus including sloughing skin, edema (swelling), and subcutaneous hemorrhaging. Although die-offs can happen very rapidly and are easily missed if diseased individuals die and decompose quickly, this appears to be the first one this year.

This wood frog tadpole clearly shows signs of edema. Poor little thing looked like a balloon compared to its poolmates.

Internal hemorrhaging can be seen in the lower abdomen

Mobile lab

The real side of fieldwork: hunched in the back of my Rav4 in 90 deg F processing samples while dodging mosquitos. Hungry little ****ers. Who would ever want a desk job!?

Welcome field assistants!!

The fieldwork is moving along efficiently tanks to our two field assistants: ESF senior Laura Labarge and ESF grad Logan Osterhoudt. Between sampling and hauling equipment around the woods, we couldn't do this without them!

ESF senior Laura Labarge having an amazing time pipe sampling

ESF grad Logan Osterhoudt enjoying some wonderful summer weather

Laura making a new friend (American Toad, Anaxyrus Americanus)

Other forest critters hang out by the pools (Eastern newt, juvenile eft stage, Notopthalamus viridescens)

My selfie with an adult Eastern newt

An adult green frog (Lithobates clamitans) hitching a ride on the sampling net

Field season begins!

The 2014 egg mass counts are complete, and it looks like it's going to be a productive year for wood frogs and spotted salamanders! Most of the wood frogs have hatched over the past few weeks, but the salamander embryos are still developing. The two egg masses can generally be distinguished by their shape and size. Wood frog egg masses are usually located at or near the surface, with black embryos visible inside the mass. Spotted salamanders usually attach their egg masses (which are typically smaller than wood frogs') to submerged vegetation and sticks. The salamander egg masses can also be identified by an outer jelly-like coating around the entire mass. Toads also lay their eggs in vernal pools in long strands.
 
Photo credits: T. Youker

Strand-like egg mass of the American toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

Spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) egg mass, with visible outer jelly coating

Wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) egg mass

Egg masses often appear greenish due to the growth of a symbiotic algae,  Oophila amblystomatis. This algae is thought to aid in the circulation of oxygen to the developing embryos. Once the eggs hatch, emerging tadpoles feed on the remaining yolks, egg sacs, and algae. Below is a video of wood frog tadpoles hatching in one of the open field pools.

 

Wood frog tadpoles munching on their empty, algae-covered egg mass

Funding for The ARP

I am proud to say the Amphibian Ranavirus Project now has grant support from two sources: The SUNY ESF Maurice Alexander Wetland Graduate Award, and Western New York Herpetological Society Marv Aures/Bob Krantz Award. These awards will fund our summer field research this year, anticipated to begin with egg mass counts next month!

Some amphibian disease awareness

Amphibian diseases flow through animal trade 

Year of the Salamander

The Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Wildlife Society have designated 2014 as "Year of the Salamander"! Visit parcplace.org and read State of the Salamander

Infectious Disease Symposium Update

Well, the SUNY ESF & SUNY Upstate Infectious Disease Symposium: From Lab to Landscape was a great success! Drs. Sadie Ryan and Anna Stewart Ibarra did a fantastic job organizing, and gave interesting talks on their innovative research with malaria and dengue fever. Recent publications on these topics can be found here and here. Click here for a list of other speakers and topics. I am also proud to say that The Amphibian Ranavirus Project poster (below)  received a 1st place award at the symposium poster session, with another lab member, Michael Jones, receiving a 3rd place award for his poster presenting his research with the Emerald Ash Borer. Molecular work with 2011 and 2012 samples continues, and I am hoping to have some prevalence results by the start of this field season, to be presented at the 2014 Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference in Portland, Maine.

Infectious Disease Symposium at SUNY ESF

The Amphibian Ranavirus Project is about to debut its first poster! I will be presenting at the SUNY ESF & SUNY Upstate Medical U Infectious Disease Symposium "From Lab to Lanscape: Integrated Infectious Disease Research", taking place at the SUNY ESF Gateway Building Jan 24 from 8-5. Details can be found HERE.

Submitted abstract:

Emerging infectious diseases have been implicated as contributing factors to recent amphibian population declines. One such disease reaching pandemic status is ranavirus, caused by a group of viruses documented in fish, reptile, and amphibian species on five continents. Mortality rates exceed 90% at the larval stage of many aquatic-breeding amphibian species, including the common frog (Rana temporaria) in the UK, tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) in Western US, and wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) in Northeastern US.

            As part of a long-term wetland restoration ecological study beginning in 2010, The Upper Susquehanna Coalition in collaboration with SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry created a network of 71 hydrologically isolated pools incorporating four pre-existing pools at Svend O. Heiberg Memorial Forest in Tully, New York. One target species of the restoration, the wood frog, experienced local die-offs of tadpoles in three pond sites in 2011, and preliminary testing using polymerase chain reaction assay verified the presence of ranavirus in all three sites. Two die-offs of wood frog and green frog tadpoles have since been observed in other sites, with ranavirus confirmation pending.

            To identify environmental and organismal factors influencing susceptibility to ranaviral infection at these sites, we are collecting ongoing data on tadpole populations, environmental conditions, water quality, and ranavirus prevalence both during and between epidemics. We will use general linear models to determine which biotic and/or abiotic variables are most influential in ranavirus outbreaks, to develop a predictive model that can be applied to other landscapes. This will be especially applicable to future wetland restoration endeavors, as the Heiberg system incorporates both natural and constructed ponds and offers a unique opportunity to comparatively analyze disease outbreaks in each.