"We're seeing a lot of disease-related declines among amphibians, not to mention other groups of animals, such as bats plagued with white-nose syndrome and bees suffering from colony collapse disorder," said Katherine Krynak, a postdoctoral scholar in Case Western Reserve's Department of Biology and leader of a new study on this phenomena................ "This research shows that land use--farming or treating lawns with herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers--can influence traits that protect animals from disease."..........Naturally occurring secretions that normally help the frogs fight off fungus and virus maladies are seemingly being either altered or neutered by our environmental footprint............Can we put the brakes on our destructive practices in time to prevent massive die-offs of critical species?

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/~3/c1hdzy9moU4/151216140525.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

Land use may weaken amphibians' capacity to fight infection, disease

Date:

December 16, 2015

Source:

Case Western Reserve University

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