Low occurrence of ranavirus in the Prairie Pothole Region of Montana and North Dakota (USA) contrasts with prior surveys

Brian J. Tornabene; Erica J. Crespi; Bernardo A. Traversari; Kenzi M. Stemp; Creagh W. Breuner; Caren S. Goldberg; Blake R. Hossack

doi:10.3354/dao03640

Low occurrence of ranavirus in the Prairie Pothole Region of Montana and North Dakota (USA) contrasts with prior surveys

Brian J. Tornabene, Erica J. Crespi, Bernardo A. Traversari, Kenzi M. Stemp, Creagh W. Breuner, Caren S. Goldberg, Blake R. Hossack

Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

University of Montana

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ranaviruses are emerging pathogens that have caused mortality events in amphibians worldwide. Despite the negative effects of ranaviruses on amphibian populations, monitoring efforts are still lacking in many areas, including in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America. Some PPR wetlands in Montana and North Dakota (USA) have been contaminated by energy-related saline wastewaters, and increased salinity has been linked to greater severity of ranavirus infections. In 2017, we tested tissues from larvae collected at 7 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 4103 mg Cl l-1. In 2019, we used environmental DNA (eDNA) to test for ranaviruses in 30 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 11754 mg Cl l-1. A previous study (2013-2014) found that ranavirus-infected amphibians were common across North Dakota, including in some wetlands near our study area. Overall, only 1 larva tested positive for ranavirus infection, and we did not detect ranavirus in any eDNA samples. There are several potential reasons why we found so little evidence of ranaviruses, including low larval sample sizes, mismatch between sampling and disease occurrence, larger pore size of our eDNA filters, temporal variation in outbreaks, low host abundance, or low occurrence or prevalence of ranaviruses in the wetlands we sampled. We suggest future monitoring efforts be conducted to better understand the occurrence and prevalence of ranaviruses within the PPR.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	149-154
Number of pages	6
Journal	Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
Volume	147
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03640
State	Published - Dec 16 2021

Funding

Acknowledgements. Animal collection procedures were approved by the University of Montana IACUC (Permit #024-18BHWB-050818). We collected larvae under USFWS permits #62560-16-022 and #61530-18-003; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks scientific collection permits #2017-104-W and #2018-083-W; and North Dakota Game and Fish collection licenses #GNF04334863 and #GNF04882458. This study was funded by University of Montana, US Geological Survey (USGS RWO 103 to B.R.H.), National Science Foundation (NSF-DEB 1754474 to E.J.C.), and the Nelson Schwab Family Foundation. Many thanks to several technicians for field assistance and R. Jaeger for help with our figure. We are grateful to the 4 anonymous reviewers for reviews of this manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. This manuscript is US Geological Survey Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) contribution no. 807.

Keywords

Amphibians
Contaminants
Pathogens
Salinity

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10.3354/dao03640

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@article{d8ef1fcb5fe0434eb6fd4e8d39f93626,

title = "Low occurrence of ranavirus in the Prairie Pothole Region of Montana and North Dakota (USA) contrasts with prior surveys",

abstract = "Ranaviruses are emerging pathogens that have caused mortality events in amphibians worldwide. Despite the negative effects of ranaviruses on amphibian populations, monitoring efforts are still lacking in many areas, including in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America. Some PPR wetlands in Montana and North Dakota (USA) have been contaminated by energy-related saline wastewaters, and increased salinity has been linked to greater severity of ranavirus infections. In 2017, we tested tissues from larvae collected at 7 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 4103 mg Cl l-1. In 2019, we used environmental DNA (eDNA) to test for ranaviruses in 30 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 11754 mg Cl l-1. A previous study (2013-2014) found that ranavirus-infected amphibians were common across North Dakota, including in some wetlands near our study area. Overall, only 1 larva tested positive for ranavirus infection, and we did not detect ranavirus in any eDNA samples. There are several potential reasons why we found so little evidence of ranaviruses, including low larval sample sizes, mismatch between sampling and disease occurrence, larger pore size of our eDNA filters, temporal variation in outbreaks, low host abundance, or low occurrence or prevalence of ranaviruses in the wetlands we sampled. We suggest future monitoring efforts be conducted to better understand the occurrence and prevalence of ranaviruses within the PPR.",

keywords = "Amphibians, Contaminants, Pathogens, Salinity",

author = "Tornabene, \{Brian J.\} and Crespi, \{Erica J.\} and Traversari, \{Bernardo A.\} and Stemp, \{Kenzi M.\} and Breuner, \{Creagh W.\} and Goldberg, \{Caren S.\} and Hossack, \{Blake R.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements. Animal collection procedures were approved by the University of Montana IACUC (Permit \#024-18BHWB-050818). We collected larvae under USFWS permits \#62560-16-022 and \#61530-18-003; Montana Fish, Wildlife \& Parks scientific collection permits \#2017-104-W and \#2018-083-W; and North Dakota Game and Fish collection licenses \#GNF04334863 and \#GNF04882458. This study was funded by University of Montana, US Geological Survey (USGS RWO 103 to B.R.H.), National Science Foundation (NSF-DEB 1754474 to E.J.C.), and the Nelson Schwab Family Foundation. Many thanks to several technicians for field assistance and R. Jaeger for help with our figure. We are grateful to the 4 anonymous reviewers for reviews of this manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. This manuscript is US Geological Survey Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) contribution no. 807. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Inter-Research. All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

day = "16",

doi = "10.3354/dao03640",

language = "English",

volume = "147",

pages = "149--154",

journal = "Diseases of Aquatic Organisms",

issn = "0177-5103",

publisher = "Inter-Research",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Low occurrence of ranavirus in the Prairie Pothole Region of Montana and North Dakota (USA) contrasts with prior surveys

AU - Tornabene, Brian J.

AU - Crespi, Erica J.

AU - Traversari, Bernardo A.

AU - Stemp, Kenzi M.

AU - Breuner, Creagh W.

AU - Goldberg, Caren S.

AU - Hossack, Blake R.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements. Animal collection procedures were approved by the University of Montana IACUC (Permit #024-18BHWB-050818). We collected larvae under USFWS permits #62560-16-022 and #61530-18-003; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks scientific collection permits #2017-104-W and #2018-083-W; and North Dakota Game and Fish collection licenses #GNF04334863 and #GNF04882458. This study was funded by University of Montana, US Geological Survey (USGS RWO 103 to B.R.H.), National Science Foundation (NSF-DEB 1754474 to E.J.C.), and the Nelson Schwab Family Foundation. Many thanks to several technicians for field assistance and R. Jaeger for help with our figure. We are grateful to the 4 anonymous reviewers for reviews of this manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. This manuscript is US Geological Survey Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) contribution no. 807. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Inter-Research. All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/12/16

Y1 - 2021/12/16

N2 - Ranaviruses are emerging pathogens that have caused mortality events in amphibians worldwide. Despite the negative effects of ranaviruses on amphibian populations, monitoring efforts are still lacking in many areas, including in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America. Some PPR wetlands in Montana and North Dakota (USA) have been contaminated by energy-related saline wastewaters, and increased salinity has been linked to greater severity of ranavirus infections. In 2017, we tested tissues from larvae collected at 7 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 4103 mg Cl l-1. In 2019, we used environmental DNA (eDNA) to test for ranaviruses in 30 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 11754 mg Cl l-1. A previous study (2013-2014) found that ranavirus-infected amphibians were common across North Dakota, including in some wetlands near our study area. Overall, only 1 larva tested positive for ranavirus infection, and we did not detect ranavirus in any eDNA samples. There are several potential reasons why we found so little evidence of ranaviruses, including low larval sample sizes, mismatch between sampling and disease occurrence, larger pore size of our eDNA filters, temporal variation in outbreaks, low host abundance, or low occurrence or prevalence of ranaviruses in the wetlands we sampled. We suggest future monitoring efforts be conducted to better understand the occurrence and prevalence of ranaviruses within the PPR.

AB - Ranaviruses are emerging pathogens that have caused mortality events in amphibians worldwide. Despite the negative effects of ranaviruses on amphibian populations, monitoring efforts are still lacking in many areas, including in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America. Some PPR wetlands in Montana and North Dakota (USA) have been contaminated by energy-related saline wastewaters, and increased salinity has been linked to greater severity of ranavirus infections. In 2017, we tested tissues from larvae collected at 7 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 4103 mg Cl l-1. In 2019, we used environmental DNA (eDNA) to test for ranaviruses in 30 wetlands that ranged in salinity from 26 to 11754 mg Cl l-1. A previous study (2013-2014) found that ranavirus-infected amphibians were common across North Dakota, including in some wetlands near our study area. Overall, only 1 larva tested positive for ranavirus infection, and we did not detect ranavirus in any eDNA samples. There are several potential reasons why we found so little evidence of ranaviruses, including low larval sample sizes, mismatch between sampling and disease occurrence, larger pore size of our eDNA filters, temporal variation in outbreaks, low host abundance, or low occurrence or prevalence of ranaviruses in the wetlands we sampled. We suggest future monitoring efforts be conducted to better understand the occurrence and prevalence of ranaviruses within the PPR.

KW - Amphibians

KW - Contaminants

KW - Pathogens

KW - Salinity

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85122774438

U2 - 10.3354/dao03640

DO - 10.3354/dao03640

M3 - Article

C2 - 34913443

AN - SCOPUS:85122774438

SN - 0177-5103

VL - 147

SP - 149

EP - 154

JO - Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

JF - Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

ER -

Low occurrence of ranavirus in the Prairie Pothole Region of Montana and North Dakota (USA) contrasts with prior surveys

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