FreeMi investigated how zooplankton community are able to protect amphibians against Bd and found that species richness is the best indicator of a site’s potential to Bd infection, a knowledge that will help predicting further colonisation of new sites by Bd. FreeMi also identified the local species that are the most efficient at consuming Bd zoospores and established a list of species to be included in the biological control tool, by screening species-specific capacity over more than 75 zooplankton species. Then, good candidate species to be included in the biocontrol were isolated and cultivated in the laboratory, at low cost, with non-sophisticated equipment and limited space. The impacts of the environmental conditions (community, density of zoospores and temperature) on consumption efficiency were also assessed and, generally, these parameters did not strongly impact the efficiency of the biocontrol tool. Finally, FreeMi developed a framework for the development of a zooplankton bioncontrol of Bd, with the aim that the approach developed by FreeMi can be followed and applied worldwide. This framework and the results obtained by the project are and will be disseminated to conservationists and stakeholders. FreeMi also identified crucial points that need to be acknowledged and addressed for a successful bioaugmentation strategy: 1) understanding of the dynamics of zooplankton, as the zooplankton community undergoes a steady change over a season, and 2) the disturbances which altered the zooplankton communities need to be identified and controlled before the biocontrol can be applied.
