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Unlike humans, when amphibians experienced their own global pandemic with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), isolation and vaccination was not available. We lost many species. But some highly susceptible species populations persisted despite nearby populations being extirpated. Knapp et al. (2024) investigated one such species, Rana sierrae, to see if those populations could be used as source populations for reintroductions. In their 15-year study, they identified three recovering populations of the species in Yosemite National Park, California, that still had low to moderate viral loads but higher viral resistance than naive populations. They transplanted individuals from those populations to 12 new populations and regularly surveyed the sites to estimate adult survival, reproduction, and recruitment. From those reintroductions, nine populations persisted and appear to be established despite the continued presence of Bd at viral loads similar to the source population. In fact, a major correlation to reintroduction success was site choice, with the researcher becoming better at choosing higher quality habitats later in the study. Their study demonstrates that Bd-recovering translocated frogs are able to maintain resistance to Bd in new sites and offers a glimmer of hope in amphibian recovery.
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