Emily Jolly

I am pursuing an honors thesis that explores how Bd zoospore release varies across a frog’s environmental temperature, life stage, and habitat. We know from current literature that Bd, a fungus linked to world-wide mass amphibian die-offs, has an optimal temperature of about 17-23 degrees Celsius. There is little literature, however, on how the rate at which Bd is spread differs among life-stages of amphibian hosts. For example, it is not known whether tadpoles play as strong of a role in the spread of the pathogen as adults. My project aims to measure whether the rate at which zoospores are released into the water is significantly greater when the host is an adult that lives in permanent ponds and grows within Bd’s optimal growth temperature. Having a strong understanding of which factors most drastically influence this process will allow other scholars to better predict which species are likely to be “super-spreaders” within their communities and potentially develop ways to slow the decline of vulnerable populations.