Environment

Amphibians disappear from Yellowstone Park

by Amy Judd | October 29, 2008 at 07:28 am

387 views | 7 Recommendations | 2 comments

Frogs and salamanders are becoming more and more scarce in Yellowstone Park and researchers are blaming their decline on global warming.

A find such as this is always a warning of danger, because frogs and salamanders react so strongly to climate change, that is really means something is happening in the atmosphere, so scientists are worried many of these could become extinct.

"I was always of two minds when I kept coming with these results. It's exciting because it's going to be a paper with a large impact. But on the other hand this, this is frightening," said McMenamin.

Sarah spent three summers in Yellowstone Park studying common frogs and a species of salamander. She compared their numbers with a study done in the early 1990's and found significant declines in the amounts of water, hatching eggs and populations.

These are all a direct result, not of short-term weather, but long-term climate change.

What could happen if frogs become extinct?

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Barbara McPherson

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:53 on October 29th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. That fatal fungus is contributing to the demise of the amphibians. Work done a few years ago in Oregon mountain frogs showed their leading suspect to be increased ultraviolet as a result of ozone depletion. Because the frog eggs are transparent, the ultraviolet light can harm the embryo before it hatches. No doubt climate chance contributes as well.

terpenstra

at 06:20 on October 30th, 2008

Large leopard frog, caught by one of the small ponds in the Lamar River Valley, Yellowstone National Park, during the summer of 2006. This pond is near Slough Creek. On this particular day, we saw six or seven larger frogs and one large Garter Snake, fleeing for their lives. I've never seen a Tiger Salamander in the Park (although I'd love too).

terpenstra has contributed a photo to this story.