New shelter cure designed for endangered frogs facing deadly fungal disease

Adult green and golden bell frogs (Litoria aurea) using hotspot shelters - pictured within outdoor enclosures at the Macquarie University Fauna Park, Sydney, Australia. Photo credit: Anthony Waddle

A simple and effective way to help endangered frogs survive the devastating Chytridiomycosis fungal disease - which has driven at least six amphibian species to extinction in Australia and threatens dozens more worldwide - has been developed by an international team of researchers.

Published today in Nature, a study by scientists from the University of Melbourne, Macquarie University, University of Tasmania, University of Arkansas and University of Auckland has found sunlight-heatedshelters can cure the disease in frogs by suppressing the pathogen's growth.

These shelters were designed to warm up frogs, raising their body temperature high enough to quickly fight and kill infections caused by Chytridiomycosis.

University of Melbourne Professor Lee Skerratt said, "for 25 years, Chytridiomycosis has been recognised as contributing to a global collapse of amphibian populations. Our findings offer a potential lifeline for rapidly declining populations such as the green and golden bell frog, which has disappeared from more than 90 per cent of its former native range in Australia since the disease originally from Asia arrived in 1978."

These shelters - about the size of a small esky, are inexpensive and easily reproduced, and are built from readily available materials including bricks and PVC greenhouses.

Furthermore, frogs that survive the infection can develop a form of acquired immunity, making them more resistant to future infections. When re-exposed to the fungus, these 'pathogen-experienced' frogs had a much higher survival rate (86 per cent) compared to frogs not previously infected (22 per cent).

Macquarie University's Dr Anthony Waddle, the lead author of the study, said of the shelter "the whole thing is like a mini med spa for frogs and the shelters will appeal to species such as the green and golden bell frog, which previously thrived alongside humans, often occupying backyards and letterboxes. By making these 'hotspots' available to frogs in winter, we empower them to cure their infections - or to not even get sick at all."

Shelters are now operating at the site of one of the largest populations of green and golden bell frogs, at Sydney Olympic Park.

"We've shown that it works, now we're putting it into one of the most vulnerable populations where we expect to see immediate impact." Dr Waddle said.

The success of the shelters suggests similar treatments could be effective for other endangered species.

"This research has great potential to be extrapolated to other endangered frog species threatened by Chytridiomycosis such as the Growling Grass frog , which is another native to Victoria. This research demonstrates the value of cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration in tackling this global problem," Professor Skerratt said.

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