Lessons learned from emerging fungal infectious diseases

Fungal pathogens trigger among the most severe host mass mortality events. While theory suggests that host-pathogen coexistence is determined by their ecology, few empirical studies have examined their coexistence. We evaluate the support for three coexistence hypotheses in a Neotropical amphibian community demolished by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. We found strong support for the eco-evolutionary rescue hypothesis, where there were little to no negative effects of pathogen infection on host survival or recruitment. There were no evidence for source-sink or pathogen hotspots hypotheses. Our results suggest that changes within the host community offer the strongest relief from emerging infectious diseases.