Monitoring Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Italy.

Amphibian declines is a paradigmatic example in the context of the current sixth mass extinction. Drivers of these declines include the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). The
skin disease caused by this fungus is named chytridiomycosis and affects the vital function of
amphibian skin. In this study we analysed by means of real-time PCR the abundance of Bd in more
than 1300 Italian amphibian swabs. Preliminary results show a diffusion of Bd in 11 out of the 17
species tested and a prevalence of the fungus in 6% of the individual infestation rate was relatively
low, not overpassing 150 genome equivalents of Bd.