Lack of Evidence for the Drought-linked Chytridiomycosis Hypothesis

A significant amount of recent research has focused on the potentially syner-gistic roles of climate change and disease in causing amphibian declines and extinctions. Herein I discuss the drought-linked chytridio-mycosis hypothesis (DLCH), which states that prolonged or intensified dry seasons trigger or exacerbate epidemics of chytridiomycosis, a potentially lethal skin disease of amphibians caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. I demonstrate that the DLCH runs contrary to our knowledge of B. dendrobatidis physiology, biogeography, and host– parasite ecology and conclude that abnormally dry weather should actually favor amphibians by decreasing the prevalence, severity, and spread of chytridiomycosis.