Amphibians on the brink of extinction

Rescue efforts under way will shelter some animals until the storm of extinction passes. And, at least in the lab, scientists have treated frogs for a fungal disease that is devastating populations around the world.

Scientists in Ecuador's Andes test frogs for a fungus disease and make efforts to save the species. The frog's breeding stream was clogged with construction debris. Forest clearing, aridity, and infectuous diseases are proving a lethal mix for a host of species in the amphibian-rich Southern Hemisphere.

Some view our time on Earth as a mass extinction. Biodiversity losses today have reached levels not seen since the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago. Yet amphibians were able to hold on through past extinction spasms, surviving even when 95 % of other animals died out, and later when the dinosaurs disappeared. If not then, why now?

The tropics , where conditions foster high amphibian biodiversity, have seen the most dramatic declines.

We need to care about frogs because of many reasons. Their skin acts not only as a protective barrier but also as a lung and kidney, they can provide an early warning of pollutants. Their insect prey carries human pathogens, so frogs are an ally against diseases. They serve as food for snakes, birds, even humans, playing a key role in both freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.

There will be ecological consequences that we haven't yet grasped with the massive loss of amphibians. The story is much bigger than frogs, it's about emerging disease and about predicting, coping with, and fighting things we don't fully understand. It's about all of us. Everyone should care.

Thank you for the post Inda.

Everything that we read nowadays is getting more and more alarming.



I found more information on this topic at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...7/07/MNG0LJRC9U1.DTL


At least one-third of the world's known amphibians are threatened by the combination of attacks, and up to 122 species have become extinct within the past 25 years, the international team of specialists is reporting in today's edition of the journal Science.

"Amphibian declines and extinctions are global and rapid," 50 of the world's leading specialists on water-dwelling animals declared in a joint report. At least 427 species are "critically endangered," they said.

The effects are being felt in California's High Sierra, where Berkeley scientists found that the disease is rampant and killing yellow-legged frogs and Yosemite toads, whose populations already are being strained by development and pollution.

While the spread of the disease is a major new threat to all amphibians, the scientists reported that the greatest current danger to every threatened species is still the loss of habitat as cities and suburbs expand, streams and ponds and wetlands give way to the needs of farmers, and forest lands are destroyed.

But the fungus, a unique species called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, could start taking on a larger role in the increasing extinction because of global warming, which scientists suspect is lowering amphibians' resistance to the disease

The fungus was discovered in Australia and Panama only eight years ago and since then has spread across Europe and both the Americas, causing skin infections called chytrid disease in every amphibian species it attacks. The death rate from the infections is 100 percent, biologists have found. The disease, they concluded, "causes catastrophic mortality in amphibian populations, and subsequent extinctions."

The list goes on, and it is very disturbing.

Love,
yoko

Thank you for the post.

What is happening to our world? Everything seems to be getting endangered or extinct. I hope that they find a solution for this problem.

Love,
Vicky

Thank you for the topic.

This is very sad and distressing.
I read somewhere that some work is done in Equador to find a cure for the disease, but apparently it only helps a small number of amphibians so far. A lot more has to be done.

Sincerely,
Gisele

This is a very serious issue.
Thank you for sharing the info Inda and yoko.

Amphibians, reigning survivors of past mass extinctions, are sending a clear, unequivocal signal that something is wrong, as their extinction rates rise to unprecedented levels, according to a paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Humans are exacerbating two key natural threats – climate change and a deadly disease that is jumping from one species to another.


Amphibians are among the oldest organisms on earth, having survived the last four mass extinctions. The current extinction rate of amphibians is cause for alarm, according to biologists.

"An ancient organism, which has survived past extinctions, is telling us that something is wrong right now" Vredenburg said. "We -- humans -- may be doing fine right now, but they are doing poorly. The question, really, is whether we'll listen before it's too late."

"It's important for people to understand what's infecting and killing these frogs," Vredenburg said. "This disease is a remarkable example of a pathogen jumping boundaries and causing havoc. If we can understand how it is able to do so, we may be able to help the frogs as well as ourselves."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.../08/080811195627.htm

Thank you everyone for your additional information and websites.

Here is another website with some good information:

http://www.nzfrogs.org/Amphibi...tinction+Crisis.html

Why should we care?
Why should we be concerned about frogs, they are lowly creatures after all? As they are major predators of insects they fulfil an important role in the food chains and without them insects can multiply out of control causing considerable damage to crops and a dramatic increase in insect borne diseases such as encephalitis and malaria. As we have seen most frogs have a biphasic life cycle, where eggs laid in water, develop into tadpoles and these live in the water until they metamorphose into tiny replicas of the adults. This fact, coupled with being covered by a semi-permeable skin, makes frogs particularly vulnerable to pollutants and other environmental stresses. Consequently frogs can be used as environmental sentinels or biomonitors and act as an early warning system for the quality of the environment and the potential threats to other animals including ourselves. In addition frogs throughout the world provide a valuable source of food for humans and other animals.

Thank you dearestest Inda and all for this important information!

quote:

Originally posted by dear Inda:
As they are major predators of insects they fulfil an important role in the food chains and without them insects can multiply out of control causing considerable damage to crops and a dramatic increase in insect borne diseases such as encephalitis and malaria.

Quite a fright! Nice little froggies... boo hoo!

Thank you Teo for your reply and the cute images.

I really like froggies, and I will be very sad if they all disappear.