Chemical disinfection as a simple and reliable method to control the amphibian chytrid fungus at breeding points of endangered amphibians.

Chytridiomycosis caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is pushing amphibians towards extinction. Whilst mitigation methods were suggested a decade ago, we lack field trials testing their efficacy. We used the agrochemical fungicide, tebuconazole, to treat Bd infected breeding waterbodies of an endangered species that is highly susceptible to the fungus. Just two applications of tebuconazole led to a significant reduction in infection loads in the vast majority of sites, and at six sites the disinfection remained one/two-years post-application. Tebuconazole values drastically decreased in the waterbodies within a week after application, with no significant effects on their hydrochemical and hydrobiological characteristics. Although the use of chemicals in natural populations is undesirable, the growing existential threat to amphibians all over the world indicates that effective interventions in selected populations of endangered species are urgently needed.

Tuta absoluta-Specific DNA in Domestic and Synanthropic Vertebrate Insectivore Feces.

The ecology of greenhouse pests generally involves parasitoid or predatory insects. However, we investigated whether the leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is part of the diet of domestic and synanthropic vertebrate animals, such as birds, reptiles, and mammals, and that take part in an ecosystem that contains a high density of tomato greenhouses. Feces from domesticated partridges, common quails, and chickens, as well as from wild lizards were collected within tomato greenhouses, and fecal pellets from bats, swallows, common swifts, and house martins living in the vicinity of tomato greenhouses were collected outside. The efficiencies of three different DNA extraction methods were compared on bird, reptile, and mammal stool samples, and the DNA extracts were analyzed using probe real-time PCR for the presence of T. absoluta DNA. The results showed that bats fed on the pest, which was also part of the diet of several bird species: partridges and common quails kept within tomato greenhouses and swallows and common swifts living outside but in the vicinity of tomato greenhouses. In addition, fecal samples of three lizard species living near tomato crops also tested positive for T. absoluta DNA. The results suggest that aerial foraging bats and insectivorous birds are part of ecosystems that involve leaf miners and tomato greenhouses.