<b>Data for "Skin microbiome disturbance linked to drought-associated amphibian disease"</b>

The onset of global climate change has led to abnormal rainfall patterns, disrupting associations between wildlife and their symbiotic microorganisms. We monitored a population of pumpkin toadlets and their skin bacteria in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest during a drought. Given the recognized ability of some amphibian skin bacteria to inhibit the widespread fungal pathogen <i>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</i> (Bd), we investigated links between skin microbiome health, susceptibility to Bd, and host mortality during a die-off event. Rainfall deficit was an indirect predictor of Bd loads through microbiome disruption, while its direct effect on Bd was weak. The microbiome exhibited reduced putative Bd-inhibitory function following the drought, independent of infection status, and our findings pointed to a one-month lagged effect of drought on the microbiome that increased toadlet susceptibility to Bd. Our study underscores the capacity of rainfall variability to disturb complex host-microbiome interactions and disrupt wildlife disease dynamics.