Abrahm, I'll be happy to get that from you. Thanks a lot
And thanks for those observations, Frank and Jonathan.
Indeed, it seems the hellbender has plenty to contend with without the chytrid fungus
I haven't yet looked at the above-mentioned report, but I did see the
Eastern Hellbender Status Assessment Report (2003), which identifies potential threats to eastern hellbender populations in various states as including:
* siltation due to deforestation, road construction, etc.
* problems cause by dams, including habitat loss, declines of dissolved oxygen concentration, increased water temperature
* industrial pollution, pesticide runoff, acid mine drainage, failing septic systems, municipal waste
* streambed gravel mining
* incidental take by anglers, collection of bait salamanders, collection for commercial, scientific or educational purposes
* predation by non-native game fish, catfish, exotic crayfish
* alteration of habitats for recreation, channelization of streams
* nutrient enrichment (not sure what this means...)
* lack of prey
* cannibalism (adults on eggs
* endocrine disruption
* climate change, low water pH, UV-B radiation
While there's no mention of chytrid fungus, on the subject of disease the report seems to echo what Frank just said about "in nature, in many cases you need more than the fungus alone":
"Nickerson and Mays (1973) describe various fungi, protozoans, nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, acanthocephalans, and annelids (leaches) as hellbender parasites. Krecker (1916) reported the worm Filaria cingula to be a skin parasite of C. alleganiensis. These factors can adversely affect individual eastern hellbenders although relative to the threatening factors associated with habitat degradation, it is doubtful that they have negatively impacted populations of eastern hellbenders, significantly. However, the cumulative effects of multiple environmental and biological stressors may increase hellbender mortality rates. For example, Kiesecker et al. (2001) describe how climate-induced changes in UV-B exposure increase susceptibility to pathogen outbreaks in western United States amphibian populations."
Here is a link to a PDF of the Eastern Hellbender Status Assessment report:
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eco_serv/soc/amphibians/eahe-sa.pdf