Abstract
The emergence of infectious diseases is often associated with changes to
host-pathogen ecology, and wildfires are known to profoundly modify the
ecology of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Nevertheless, few
studies have employed manipulative experiments to quantify effects of
fire on infections across parasite species. In a mark-recapture study,
prescribed burns did not affect densities of Cuban treefrog (CTF;
Osteopilus septentrionalis) definitive hosts. However, a prescribed burn
field experiment and before-after-control-impact mesocosm study revealed
that fire decreased a skin-penetrating nematode in CTFs by killing the
parasite’s soil- dwelling, free-living stage. Additionally, prescribed
burns were associated with increases in a terrestrial acuariid nematode
and several aquatic trematode metacercariae in CTFs, likely by
increasing intermediate host densities. We found no evidence of recovery
in the trajectories of these parasites seven years after burns. These
results suggest that fire can have predictable and long-term direct and
indirect positive and negative effects on parasite transmission.