A wave of frog die-offs in Central America may have led to a surge in malaria cases among humans—among other woes. The Washington Post shines a light on the "frog apocalypse" and the culprit behind it: a lethal fungus known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, which has decimated frog populations globally since the 1990s. The fungus weakens frogs to the point of death, and some 500 amphibian species have been impacted, with nearly 20% of those "decimated." And as frogs disappeared, so did their tadpoles—key predators of mosquito larvae. With fewer tadpoles around, mosquito populations boomed, and so did cases of malaria, with researchers noting a fivefold increase in Costa Rica and Panama, per a 2022 study.
That article is careful to point out that "no single case of malaria can be attributed to the wave of frog deaths." Indeed, factors like increased human migration have also contributed to malaria's spread. But researchers believe tens of thousands of additional cases occurred after the onset of the fungus. Malaria isn't the only issue. As ecologist Karen Lips (an author of the 2022 study) notes, fewer tadpoles meant a buildup of algae in some areas; fewer adult frogs meant smaller populations of the snakes that fed on them. The story zeroes in on biologist Brian Gratwicke and his colleagues, who are racing to reintroduce frogs—including some that are potentially resistant to Bd—into Panama's cloud forests in hopes of restoring some balance; read the article in full here.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
