Invasibility of a North American soil ecosystem to amphibian-killing fungal pathogens

North American salamanders are threatened by the intercontinental spread of chytridiomycosis, a deadly disease caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). To predict the potential dispersal of Bsal spores to salamander habitats, we evaluated the capacity of soil microbial communities to resist invasion. We determined the degree of habitat invasibility using soils from five locations throughout the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a region with a high abundance of susceptible hosts. Our experimental design consisted of replicate soil microcosms exposed to different propagule pressures of the non-native pathogen, Bsal, and an introduced but endemic pathogen, B. dendrobatidis (Bd). To compare growth and competitive interactions, we used quantitative PCR, live/dead cell viability assays, and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We found that soil microcosms with intact bacterial communities inhibited both Bsal and Bd growth, but inhibitory capacity diminished with i..., General methods include soil collection in the field, experimental microcosm setup with microbially active (non-autoclaved) and inactive (autoclaved) soil samples, inoculation with two different Batrachochytrid pathogens, and incubating for two weeks while analyzing samples at different time points (see manuscript for detailed methods). Samples were processed for live/dead cell counts to obtain a proxy of microbial activity, and pathogen load via Quantitative PCR to determine pathogen response, and sequenced using 16S rRNA methods to understand bacterial community structure. Each of these results was then analyzed using computational methods to gain insight into the process of microbial invasion for this system., , # Invasibility of a North American soil ecosystem to amphibian-killing fungal pathogens

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rv15dv4g1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rv15dv4g1)

These datasets were from soil samples collected in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (July 2020). Soil samples were set up in experimental microcosms in the lab of Dr. Ana Longo at the University of Florida (Gainesville, USA) to determine invasibility to pathogenic microfungi. Microcosms were experimentally invaded by two different concentration levels of the amphibian-killing pathogens *Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis* and *B. salamandrivorans* and incubated across four different time intervals.

Datasets resulting from this experiment include:

Live/dead cell counts

* Number of live cells per microcosm
* Number of dead cells per microcosm

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results

* Genomic equivalents of microfungus *Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis* for each treatment
* Genomic equivalents of...