RACE Mission Statement
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is an emerging infectious disease which has proved widely destructive to global amphibian biodiversity. RACE is a pan-European project to assess the risk that Bd poses to European amphibians. The project is developing tools and protocols to enable surveillance of Bd across Europe. RACE will further approaches to understanding where in situ mitigation and captive-breeding conservation efforts are most necessary to reduce the effects of chytridiomycosis, to halt the further spread of the pathogen and to preserve European amphibian biodiversity. Our findings will be formalised into a European Threat Abatement Plan (ETAP).
The RACE project is now nearing a conclusion and we will soon be publishing the European Threat Abatement Plan for Bd in preparation Dr. Mark Auliya and the RACE team have produced a factsheet detailing the RACE project and some of our findings.
What RACE is doing:
- Enabling national and international surveillance through training and workshops in molecular diagnostics
- Identifying patterns of introduction and spread through whole-genome sequencing of Bd
- Researching the impact of Bd on amphibian communities in diverse ecosystems (montane, lowland, island)
- Accelerating the introduction of mitigation programs and captive-breeding of at-risk species
- Identifying policy tools to reduce the rate of introduction of Bd
Ways you can help with RACE
Have you been hiking in the Pyrenees? We are researching the methods that Bd may spread amongst lakes in the mountains and your help is needed! Please fill out our survey to help us make our risk assessment of the factors that may spread Bd.
RACE in the press
The RACE Film
The following short film was produced by BiodivERsA and talks about the RACE project, featuring the work of RACE members in Moulis in the French Pyrenées.