A joint model for the estimation of species distributions and environmental characteristics from point-referenced data.

Background: Predicting and explaining species occurrence using environmental characteristics is essential for nature conservation and management. Species distribution models consider species occurrence as the dependent variable and environmental conditions as the independent variables. Suitable conditions are estimated based on a sample of species observations, where one assumes that the underlying environmental conditions are known.

Divergent population responses following salamander mass mortalities and declines driven by the emerging pathogen .

Understanding wildlife responses to novel threats is vital in counteracting biodiversity loss. The emerging pathogen () causes dramatic declines in European salamander populations, and is considered an imminent threat to global amphibian biodiversity. However, real-life disease outcomes remain largely uncharacterized.

Hybrid zone analysis confirms cryptic species of banded newt and does not support competitive displacement since secondary contact.

When two putatively cryptic species meet in nature, hybrid zone analysis can be used to estimate the extent of gene flow between them. Two recently recognized cryptic species of banded newt (genus ) are suspected to meet in parapatry in Anatolia, but a formal hybrid zone analysis has never been conducted. We sample populations throughout the range, with a focus on the supposed contact zone, and genotype them for 31 nuclear DNA SNP markers and mtDNA.

Landscape epidemiology of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans: reconciling data limitations and conservation urgency.

Starting in 2010, rapid fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) population declines in northwestern Europe heralded the emergence of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a salamander-pathogenic chytrid fungus. Bsal poses an imminent threat to global salamander diversity owing to its wide host range, high pathogenicity, and long-term persistence in ecosystems. While there is a pressing need to develop further research and conservation actions, data limitations inherent to recent pathogen emergence obscure necessary insights into Bsal disease ecology.

A new frog species of the genus Odorrana (Anura: Ranidae) from Yunnan, China.

The Chinese-Myanmar border area forms part of a long-acknowledged biodiversity hotspot. This region is characterised by dramatic topography and diverse landscapes, which support a high degree of biodiversity and endemism that remains largely understudied. Based on recent survey efforts we here describe a new frog species of the genus Odorrana from this area.

Salamander loss alters litter decomposition dynamics.

Biodiversity loss affects ecosystem functioning. Top down effects of amphibian declines on the trophic food web of the forest floor are poorly understood. Here we quantify and explain the effects of disease-driven loss of salamanders on the dynamics of forest leaf litter.

Presence of low virulence chytrid fungi could protect European amphibians from more deadly strains.

Wildlife diseases are contributing to the current Earth's sixth mass extinction; one disease, chytridiomycosis, has caused mass amphibian die-offs. While global spread of a hypervirulent lineage of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (BdGPL) causes unprecedented loss of vertebrate diversity by decimating amphibian populations, its impact on amphibian communities is highly variable across regions. Here, we combine field data with in vitro and in vivo trials that demonstrate the presence of a markedly diverse variety of low virulence isolates of BdGPL in northern European amphibian communities.

Microclimate limits thermal behaviour favourable to disease control in a nocturnal amphibian.

While epizootics increasingly affect wildlife, it remains poorly understood how the environment shapes most host-pathogen systems. Here, we employ a three-step framework to study microclimate influence on ectotherm host thermal behaviour, focusing on amphibian chytridiomycosis in fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) infected with the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). Laboratory trials reveal that innate variation in thermal preference, rather than behavioural fever, can inhibit infection and facilitate salamander recovery under humidity-saturated conditions.

Response to Comment on "Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity".

Lambert question our retrospective and holistic epidemiological assessment of the role of chytridiomycosis in amphibian declines. Their alternative assessment is narrow and provides an incomplete evaluation of evidence. Adopting this approach limits understanding of infectious disease impacts and hampers conservation efforts.

Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity.

Anthropogenic trade and development have broken down dispersal barriers, facilitating the spread of diseases that threaten Earth's biodiversity. We present a global, quantitative assessment of the amphibian chytridiomycosis panzootic, one of the most impactful examples of disease spread, and demonstrate its role in the decline of at least 501 amphibian species over the past half-century, including 90 presumed extinctions. The effects of chytridiomycosis have been greatest in large-bodied, range-restricted anurans in wet climates in the Americas and Australia.

Intraspecific variation in lizard heat tolerance alters estimates of climate impact.

Research addressing the effects of global warming on the distribution and persistence of species generally assumes that population variation in thermal tolerance is spatially constant or overridden by interspecific variation. Typically, this rationale is implicit in sourcing one critical thermal maximum (CT ) population estimate per species to model spatiotemporal cross-taxa variation in heat tolerance. Theory suggests that such an approach could result in biased or imprecise estimates and forecasts of impact from climate warming, but limited empirical evidence in support of those expectations exists.

Salamandra.

Beukema et al. Introduce the genus salamandra comprising the well-known fire salamanders.

Expanding Distribution of Lethal Amphibian Fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in Europe.

Emerging fungal diseases can drive amphibian species to local extinction. During 2010-2016, we examined 1,921 urodeles in 3 European countries. Presence of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans at new locations and in urodeles of different species expands the known geographic and host range of the fungus and underpins its imminent threat to biodiversity.

Wildlife disease. Recent introduction of a chytrid fungus endangers Western Palearctic salamanders.

Emerging infectious diseases are reducing biodiversity on a global scale. Recently, the emergence of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans resulted in rapid declines in populations of European fire salamanders. Here, we screened more than 5000 amphibians from across four continents and combined experimental assessment of pathogenicity with phylogenetic methods to estimate the threat that this infection poses to amphibian diversity.

A survey for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in endangered and highly susceptible Vietnamese salamanders (Tylototriton spp.).

Until now, Asian amphibians appear to have largely escaped declines driven by chytridiomycosis. Vietnamese salamanders that belong to the genus Tylototriton are rare and have a patchy distribution in mountainous areas, falling within the proposed environmental envelope of chytrid infections, surrounded by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infected regions. If these salamanders are susceptible to chytridiomycosis, then their populations could be highly vulnerable after the introduction of B.

Resistance to chytridiomycosis in European plethodontid salamanders of the genus Speleomantes.

North America and the neotropics harbor nearly all species of plethodontid salamanders. In contrast, this family of caudate amphibians is represented in Europe and Asia by two genera, Speleomantes and Karsenia, which are confined to small geographic ranges. Compared to neotropical and North American plethodontids, mortality attributed to chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has not been reported for European plethodontids, despite the established presence of Bd in their geographic distribution.

Review of the systematics, distribution, biogeography and natural history of Moroccan amphibians.

The amphibian fauna of the Kingdom of Morocco was traditionally regarded as poor and closely related to its European counterpart. However, an increase in research during the last decades revealed a considerable degree of endemism amongst Moroccan amphibians, as well as phenotypic and genotypic inter- and intraspecific divergence. Despite this increase in knowledge, a comprehensible overview is lacking while several systematic issues have remained unresolved.

Upgrading to biventricular pacing guided by pressure-volume loop analysis during implantation.

Introduction: cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) may improve prognosis in patients with chronic right ventricular (RV) pacing, and optimal lead position can decrease nonresponders. We evaluated the clinical and echocardiographic response to CRT in patients with previous chronic RV pacing, using pressure-volume loop analyses to determine the optimal left ventricular (LV) lead position during implantation.

Methods And Results: In this single-blinded, randomized, controlled crossover study, 40 patients with chronic RV apical pacing and symptoms of heart failure, decreased LV ejection fraction (LVEF) or dyssynchrony were included.

Efficacy of multi-electrode duty-cycled radiofrequency ablation for pulmonary vein disconnection in patients with paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation.

Aim: A novel multi-electrode pulmonary vein ablation catheter (PVAC) combining circular mapping and duty-cycled multi-electrode radiofrequency (RF) energy delivery has been developed to map and isolate the pulmonary veins (PVs). The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of multi-electrode RF ablation using the PVAC device.

Methods And Results: A total of 102 consecutive patients, age 57.

Dominant frequency of atrial fibrillation correlates poorly with atrial fibrillation cycle length.

Background: Localized sites of high frequency during atrial fibrillation (AF) are used as target sites to eliminate AF. Spectral analysis is used experimentally to determine these sites. The purpose of this study was to compare dominant frequencies (DF) with AF cycle length (AFCL) of unipolar and bipolar recordings.