Researchers probe Prairie wetlands for signs of 'epidermal epidemic' in Manitoba frogs, salamanders
asserted
Researchers → probe → frogs
Researchers expect samples could confirm chytrid in Manitoba amphibians for 1st time
Thickening skin falling off lethargic frogs and toads in flecks.
uncertain
skin → expect → flecks
An immune system under attack shutting the body down.
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system → shut → body
Those are telltale signs of chytridiomycosis, a lethal fungal disease that's been called an "epidermal epidemic" leading to the extinction of dozens of amphibian species worldwide.
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that → call → species
It hasn't been detected yet in Canada's middle province — but that isn't necessarily because it isn't in Manitoba.
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it → detect → Manitoba
There's no way we don't have this pathogen here," said Jackie Tran, a graduate student sampling frogs and salamanders across southern Manitoba.
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Tran → be → Manitoba
Now, that doesn't mean we don't have the pathogens here, it just means we haven't been on top of surveillance up until now.
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we → mean → surveillance
"
Chytrid in frogs is caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; in salamanders, by Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans.
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Chytrid → cause → salamandrivorans
The latter, believed to have originated in East Asia, surfaced in the past couple decades and has decimated local populations of salamanders in parts of Europe.
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latter → believe → Europe
It hasn't made the leap to North America yet, that scientists know of.
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scientists → make → that
Where the variety that infects frogs and toads first emerged remains unclear, though there are signs it was present in Brazil and Asia for more than a century before popping up around the world, in large part because of the trade in exotic pets.
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it → infect → pets
That's one of the reasons it's been described as "the worst infectious disease ever recorded among vertebrates" (any creature with a spine).
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it → describe → spine
It's become more established in the U.S. and Canada in recent years.
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It → become → years
A blue-spotted salamander emerges from beneath a woodpile in northwestern Ontario last summer.
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salamander → emerge → Ontario
The fungal infection hasn't been confirmed in salamanders in North America yet.
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infection → confirm → America
Nearly half of Alberta frog populations sampled between 2006-10 came back positive for chytrid.
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half → sample → chytrid
Studies from around the same time in British Columbia found it present in one of 10 amphibians sampled, with northern leopard frogs among those worst hit.
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frogs → find → those
That species is federally listed as endangered in parts of Western Canada.
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species → list → Canada
In Manitoba, it's listed as a species of special concern.
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it → list → concern
The leopard frog — one of 16 amphibian species in Manitoba historically — has seen population declines across Canada in recent decades.
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frog → see → decades
And there's suspicion that chytrid might have been the culprit behind a marked drop in Manitoba numbers five decades ago.
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chytrid → be → numbers
The leopard frog range in Manitoba contracted after "heaps of dead and dying frogs" up to a metre high were observed along shores of some wetlands in Manitoba.
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heaps → contract → Manitoba
A northern leopard frog lurks along the edges of a lake near the border of Manitoba and Ontario in September 2026.
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frog → lurk → September
No one sampled or scooped up any of those frog corpses for posterity, so while chytrid is considered a plausible explanation, it remains speculation.
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it → sample → posterity
Tran suggests the thus-far chytrid-free designation for Manitoba might be more of a mirage than a mirror of any special conservation action going on in the province keeping the disease at bay.
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designation → suggest → bay
Jackie Tran, a master's student at Brandon University, stands next to a wetland in Sandilands Provincial Forest in south eastern Manitoba on Oct. 1.
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Tran → stand → Oct.
His research is focused on determining for the first time whether a deadly fungal pathogen has infected populations of amphibians in Manitoba, such as northern leopard frogs and tiger salamanders.
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pathogen → focus → frogs
"That's kind of been taken as a sign to not prioritize this research," he said.
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he → take → research
It's been confirmed in frogs in Ontario, including in the northwest, not far from the Manitoba border, as well as in the Northwest Territories, North Dakota and Minnesota.
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It → confirm → Territories
Saskatchewan had one confirmed case in 2007, Tran says.
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Tran → have → 2007
Tran swabs a gray treefrog as part of his research focused on confirming whether Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has made it into Manitoba amphibian populations.
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dendrobatidis → swab → populations
There's reason to believe the risk to amphibians on the Prairies could be increasing.
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risk → be → Prairies
"With a changing environment, a changing climate, things could get a lot worse," Tran said.
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Tran → change → environment
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He used geographic modelling data to identify a range of wetland amphibian habitats where the pathogens could thrive.
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pathogens → meet → habitats
Tran's work marks the beginning of a proactive monitoring program at Brandon University that his supervisor plans to carry on.
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supervisor → mark → that
"If we can get out front of this, this can help sort of limit some of these declines," said Pamela Rutherford, associate professor in the department of biology at BU.
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Rutherford → get → BU
Tran is her first graduate student doing this kind of work, which is part of a broader pathogen monitoring program that started in the U.S., Rutherford says.
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Rutherford → do → U.S.
Tran sampled a variety of the 16 amphibian species that call Manitoba home, including wood frogs, such as those shown here in a southern Manitoba wetland.
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that → sample → wetland
Pathogens spread well in wetlands degraded by human activity, Rutherford says, which is why the component of Tran's work identifying those kinds of habitats could have value beyond his project.
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component → spread → project
"This also gives us a more general sense of what the health of wetlands are now for the systems that he [Tran] looks at, but that has much broader implications for the health of everything," Rutherford said.
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Rutherford → give → everything
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
