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| A gorgeous golden frog waving at another golden frog (thesun.co.uk) |
Amphibians
are truly the most biologically diverse animals. With their capabilities to
absorb enzymes and breathe both air and water, it seems like there really isn’t
any place an amphibian can’t survive. This however, is not the case. There are
in fact places where amphibians are in trouble. All those places have one thing
in common… Humans. This is the case with some of the most prevalent amphibians,
frogs. While humans continue to become coastal creatures using our various
forms of technology to harness the oceans resources, frogs are being forced to
find another lily pad to hop to.
A
fierce example of what is happening to frogs and toads is vividly presented to
us in the example of the dusky gopher frog in Mississippi. Due to the
endangered species act, these frogs have been put on watch in order to monitor
the populations. However, all this monitoring has done is determine that there
are fewer frogs than ever recorded. It is reported by the Center for Biological
Diversity that, “98 percent of long-leaf pine forests —
upon which the frog depends — have been destroyed. Fire suppression, drought,
pesticides, urban sprawl, highway construction and the decline of gopher
tortoises have made this frog so rare it now lives in only a few small
Mississippi ponds.” Luckily, further action is being planned byboth the Center for Biological Diversity and theGulf Restoration Network. The two have decided to make an, “agreement with theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requiring the agency to develop a recovery planfor endangered dusky gopher frogs” (1). This agreement will be finished in
2015, and will hopefully be here in time to save these populations.
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| Tadpoles that have just been released together into a creek (dreamstime.com) |
Toads are so similar to frogs that
it is tough to tell the two apart for most people. This is because of the
similar look and behavior of the two. However, this means that the same human
factors that are getting rid of frogs are also killing toads. The Houston Toad
is a very stunning and extreme example of this. Locals in the area said that, “the toad could once be found in several counties acrossTexas, but since has been cornered into one last refuge in Bastrop State Park”(2). Bastrop State Park is basically the last chance to save these toads. There
are many causes for this. One of which is a manmade wildfire in the area.
However, Ted Creacy, with Texas Parks stated that it could be natural causes,
such as, “the drought leading up to the wildfire; we know it had a significant
negative impact on the toads.” Not only can these toads just be preserved, but
also people must increase their populations. That is what locals are doing. It
was reported by Ksat.com that, “1,500
Houston Toad tadpoles into a small pond in the park, researchers believed, is a
big step into keeping the species from facing extinction.” This has proved to
be a significant win for toads.
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| Some ways to tell frogs apart from toads (etsy.com) |
Frogs serve a unique purpose in the
animal kingdom. They have the ability of showing us how their environment is
doing. Specifically, they are good signals to how the biodiversity is thriving
in the ecosystem. April 27th, 2013 was dubbed save the frogs day. In
her article about the holiday, Germaine
Greer states that, “frogs are an infallible indicator of the health of an ecosystem” (3). For this reason
alone, frogs are an important animal to keep around for the purpose of observation.
The reason that they are such a good monitor for their surroundings is because
they play such an important role in their environments as both food, and as a
consumer. Greer goes on to say that, “Baby frogs are at the bottom of the food
chain; only a small percentage will ever make it to adulthood.” This means that
baby frogs are an important and vital part of the diet of the predators that
eat them. Without baby frogs, the animals that eat them will die out or be
forced to eat another animal. Adult frogs are important consumers in their
environments as well. The Save The Frogs organization reminds us that, “adult frogs eat large quantities ofinsects, including disease vectors that can transmit fatal illnesses to humans(i.e. mosquitoes/malaria)” (4). In this role, frogs are just as important
consumers as they are at being the consumed.
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| An example of a wetland that, at one point, was much larger and could support frog populations. That is... before humans came. (amphibiaweb.org) |
No
matter how slimy they are, we must make sure that frogs have a stable and
thriving life here on earth. They are too important to lose. Once again, we see
that human development must be put in check in order to make room for other
species other than humans. Frogs are not just going to jump out of the predicament
we place them in. It is our job, as the developing human race, to develop a solution
to the declining populations of frog species.
(3)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/10018103/We-need-to-fight-to-stop-frogs-extinction.html
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