It is unclear if other amphibian species are at a higher or lower risk of extinction

 It is unclear if other amphibian species are at a higher or lower risk of extinction, which is a critical question the researchers hope to answer due to the important roles these animals play in maintaining biodiversity levels and healthy environments.

“Our ultimate goal is to better understand and better predict how climate change interacts with infectious diseases to affect whether some species might be at a higher or lower risk of extinction, particularly for species that are ectotherms,” Joseph Mihaljevic, principal investigator of the study, stated in a press release.

“For these types of species, whose body temperature is regulated by the environment, the climate determines how well they can cope with infectious disease, and the climate also impacts how well these species survive and reproduce in their habitats. We need better predictive models of when climate and disease are expected to have the largest combined impacts on these species in the future. This is important for conserving biodiversity, as well as for agriculture and aquaculture. ”

Dozens of new viruses found in ancient glacial ice

New viruses found in the Tibetan plateau are raising concerns that melting glaciers could release pathogens into the environment.

The researchers are planning to study how water temperatures affect virus transmission and how climate variables impact salamander breeding. So far, data indicates that the number of eggs that the salamanders lay is related to precipitation, temperature patterns, and other climate variables.