Scientists meet in Hungary to discuss saving dying frogs
Scientists meet in Hungary to discuss saving dying frogs
mongabay.com
August 27, 2007
Scientists are meeting this week in Budapest, Hungary to discuss last-ditch efforts to save the world’s most threatened frogs from extinction.
Amphibian Ark, as the project is named, is seeking to house 500 individual frogs from each of 500 species in biosecure facilities to protect them from a devastating disease that is fast killing wild amphibians around the world.
To kickstart public interest in the campaign, Amphibian Ark has declared 2008 “The Year of the Frog.” Money from the campaign will go towards training, capacity building, and setting up facilities for protecting species. Zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums are expected to play a critical role in the effort since they can serve as breeding grounds for endangered species.
 Monkey frog in Peru (photo by Rhett A. Butler). Scientists are particularly concerned about the global decline of amphibians over the past 20 years. Recent research suggests that the amphibian crisis is tied to global warming. |
Scientists estimate that between one-third and one-half of the world’s nearly 6,000 species of amphibians could go extinct in the wild within the next 50 years. Already more than 170 species have likely gone extinct since 1980.
Scientists say the worldwide decline of amphibians is one of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns; one that may portend greater threats to the ecological balance of the planet. Because amphibians have highly permeable skin and spend a portion of their life in water and on land, they are sensitive to environmental change and can act as the proverbial “canary in a coal mine,” indicating the relative health of an ecosystem. As they die, scientists are left wondering what plant or animal group is next.
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