Treating Chytrid in Montserrat 06/09/09

Sometimes the weather does not help you out when you are involved in a field work project such as this one. This is definitely something we have learned during the last week here at Montserrat, when Tropical Storm “Erika” passed over us, preventing us from going into the field as many days as we intended to. Moreover, once the storm passed over the island, it left both Pelican and Fairy Walk Ghauts with large volumes of water flowing through them. The water, running rapidly, changed the appearance of both study sites almost completely, washed everything in its way downhill and made our work there a little bit more complicated. In a field project like this one, having the help and commitment of staff from the Forestry Department is really important, but this week their knowledge of almost every inch of the terrain we are working in, and also of the quickly changing weather of the island, was essential. Thank you so much guys!!!

Talking from our own experience now, the ghauts can be extremely treacherous, and this is something that the mountain chickens seem to know very well since our visits to the study sites after the storm were not as successful as the previous ones. This was because nearly all the frogs had disappeared from the ravines up into the forested hills, thus avoiding the risk of being washed away into the Atlantic Ocean. We don´t know yet whether this tropical storm marks the beginning of the wet season here in the Caribbean. We hope not, since frequent rains could dramatically affect the number of frogs we will be able to find at the ghauts in future visits.

In spite of the weather, we managed to go into the field three times this week. The sights of more froglets along the transect, as well as some frogs outside of the transects were really encouraging. As we keep searching for frogs, either already part of the study or “new” unmarked animals, we continue following the established treatment protocols. With each frog released following treatment with an antifungal bath, goes our best current hope for the continued survival of the species in the wild on Montserrat.