Data for: Testing the population-level effects of stress-induced susceptibility in the ranavirus-wood frog system

In this study we tracked experimentally-induced epidemics of ranavirus
infections in 96 populations of wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) larvae
(in addition to 32 control populations) raised in mesocosms with low or
high salinity (well water, 109-177uS/cm; or well water + road salt
1900-2000uS/cm) crossed factorially with ambient or elevated (ambient +
3°C) water temperature. Epidemics were initiated by the introduction of
two ranavirus-infected larvae (waterbath exposed to 2.5 × 104
plaque-forming units/mL of a local ranavirus isolate for the prior 24h)
into each of the 96 virus mesocosms or two uninfected larvae in the 32
control mesocosms. Mesocosms were checked daily for carcasses and
metamorphosing individuals (=front limb emergence), which were removed and
frozen for later analyses. Recovered carcasses and a subset of
metamorphosing individuals were then screened for ranavirus infection with
a quantitative realtime PCR assay.