Infection of frogs by amphibian chytrid fungus causing the disease chytridiomycosis - key threatening process

Conservation status in NSW: Key Threatening Process

Description

Infection of frogs by amphibian chytrid causing the disease chytridiomycosis was listed as a KEY THREATENING PROCESS on Schedule 3 of the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 [22 August 2003].

Chytridiomycosis is a fatal disease of amphibians and is caused by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Longcore et al. 1999). Chytridiomycosis is a global epidemic.

Chytridiomycosis is potentially fatal to all native species of amphibian. As such, all frog species that are listed under the schedules of the Act may be affected by the disease. Fifty species of Australian frogs have been found infected with the chytrid fungus. In NSW, 22 species, more than one quarter of the total NSW amphibian fauna, have been diagnosed with the disease.  Chytridiomycosis has been reported from the following: Endangered frog species and populations: Green and Golden Bell Frog, Spotted Frog, Fleay's Barred Frog, Giant Barred Frog, Stuttering Barred Frog,  Booroolong Frog, Southern Corroboree Frog, Tusked Frog Population (Nandewar and New England Tablelands Bioregions) Vulnerable frog species: Northern Corroboree Frog, Giant Burrowing Frog.

High altitude (>400m) populations are more severely affected by chytridiomycosis. Such population declines have been reported from the NSW uplands (Gillespie and Hines 1999, Hines et al. 1999). Stream-associated frog species are more likely to be infected because the pathogen is waterborne. The following are stream-breeding species of the NSW coast and ranges and may be threatened by chytridiomycosis (Gillespie and Hines 1999): Endangered stream-breeding frog species and populations: Booroolong Frog, Fleay's Barred Frog, Giant Barred Frog, Spotted Frog, Stuttering Frog, Tusked Frog Population (Nandewar and New England Tablelands Bioregions) Vulnerable stream-breeding frog species Giant Burrowing Frog, Peppered Frog, Glandular Frog

Infection of amphibians with chytrid fungus resulting in chytridiomycosis is listed as a key threatening process under the Commonwealth/Australian Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Threat abatement - priority actions

A number of priority actions have been identified for this key threatening process. Priority actions are the specific, practical things that must be done to tackle a key threatening process. They have been grouped into 6 overarching threat abatement strategies.

See all threat abatement strategies and priority actions for this key threatening process.