Plankton that could save amphibians

Published on September 8, 2011

photo: L. Shyamal, Wynaad

Andrew Blaustein (1999) and colleagues have discovered an organism that may protect amphibians from a fungal disease that is destroying their populations worldwide. The researchers found that a zooplankton living in amphibian breeding sites, Daphni magna, eats the disease-causing fungus. This finding may lead to the development of an effective biological control, the team says.