Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU

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The US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to assist with development of models for fungal pathogens that affect wildlife. Fungal diseases of wildlife including white-nose syndrome, salamander chytridiomycoses, and snake fungal disease. Emerging/re-emerging diseases of wildlife have the potential to cause devastating population declines and threaten the ability of a species to persist. In the face of emerging diseases, decision makers often have to determine a course of action with minimal information regarding the details of the disease's ecology and pathology. Emerging diseases such as white-nose syndrome and chytrid fungus have raised concerns among wildlife managers due to their potential threats to wildlife populations. Analyzing and synthesizing data on the effect of fungal pathogens on wildlife demographic rates, and community composition (i.e. which species may go extinct, and which species may be resistant to disease) is an important step in the development of models to inform decision making for the management of fungal diseases.

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