ecosystem importance: less frogs, more mosquitos (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, September 20, 2022, 17:19 (793 days ago) @ David Turell

Every form in an ecosystem is related to every other form:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2338764-amphibian-deaths-in-central-america-led-to...

"A fungal skin disease that caused amphibian numbers to plummet in Costa Rica and Panama lowered the number of amphibian tadpoles that were eating mosquito larvae, causing the insects to flourish and spread malaria

"Collapsing populations of many frogs, toads and salamanders has been linked with a large rise in malaria cases in Costa Rica and Panama.

"Amphibian tadpoles eat huge numbers of mosquito larvae, with these insects being responsible for the spread of malaria. A fungal disease that triggered a decline in amphibians probably allowed mosquito populations to flourish.

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"The finding shows that changes within ecosystems can have unexpected consequences. “Predicting these things ahead of time is pretty difficult,” he says.

"Frogs and several other amphibian species in many parts of the world have been suffering catastrophic collapse in numbers due to the arrival of a fungal skin disease called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, also known as Bd or chytrid fungus. Although some species of frogs and toads seem to be evolving resistance to the fungus, it may have driven 200 of the world’s 7800 species to go extinct in the past 40 years.

"The fungus first arrived in the northwest of Costa Rica in the early 1980s, spreading south and east, before moving eastwards through Panama in the 2000s. There was a surge of malaria in both countries shortly after the fungus’ arrival, with Panama, for instance, seeing a five-fold rise in cases."

Comment: this shows now delicately balanced ecosystems are. Ecosystems are the result of the massive diversity of organisms created by the bush of life evolution developed.