AdoptAPond

Why Are Amphibian Populations Declining

What is being done to help Amphibians

Canada Species At Risk

Responding to an Amphibian Extinction Crisis

WHAT IS BEING DONE TO HELP AMPHIBIANS?

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Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation Programme - www.torontozoo.com/adoptapond

Adopt-A-Pond is a programme whose goal is to conserve wetland habitat and biodiversity. The programme has several components including: education and outreach, species natural history resources, wetland restoration and creation, Amphibian Voice newsletter and FrogWatch-Ontario. Adopt-A-Pond keeps current with new information on wetland conservation, amphibian biology, classroom activities and conservation topics. The programme aims to empower people to act on behalf of amphibians and to introduce the public to real-world problems where they can play an active role.

Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network (CARCNET) - www.carcnet.ca

The mission statement of CARCNET is as follows: "In recognition of the inherent value of all native amphibians and reptiles, the Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network (CARCNET) is devoted to conserving Canada's native species of amphibians and reptiles, and their ecological and evolutionary functions in perpetuity." The website provides information on the identification, distribution (including Provincial specifics), natural history and conservation of Canada's frogs, salamanders, lizards, turtles and snakes. The website also highlights important research, monitoring and conservation strategies of amphibians and reptiles within Canada, and provides opportunities for local stewardship.

Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF) - www.open.ac.uk/daptf/index.htm
The DAPTF was established in 1991 by the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The mission of the DAPTF is to determine the nature, extent and causes of declines of amphibians throughout the world, and to promote means by which declines can be halted or reversed. Through a network of working groups, DAPTF collects data on amphibian declines, disease and pathology, monitoring techniques, chemical contaminants, climatic and atmospheric change and captive breeding. The DAPTF also maintains a Rapid Response Fund to investigate mass mortality events and disease outbreaks in the field.

FrogWatch - www.torontozoo.com/adoptapond/FrogwatchOntario.asp

FrogWatch encourages schools, community groups, individuals, naturalists and backyard enthusiasts to engage in environmental monitoring. By listening to frog and toad calls, community members record and submit observations that are important in monitoring the health of Canada's amphibian populations and the environments that sustain them. Valuable information about the location of frog and toad populations is collected and over the long-term, this data can be used to generate presence/absence information across a broad geographic range. FrogWatch observations can also be used with other amphibian information to help identify, measure and assess the rate of amphibian decline in Canada. In Ontario, the Toronto Zoo co-ordinates and promotes FrogWatch-Ontario through the Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation Programme.

Global Amphibian Assessment - www.globalamphibians.org
The Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA) is the first-ever comprehensive assessment of the conservation status of the world's amphibian species. IUCN threat category, range map, ecology information and other data for each species can be found on the GAA website. Among the key findings of the GAA are:

32% of the world's amphibian species are threatened, representing 1,896 species.

At least 43% of all species are declining in population, indicating that the number of threatened species can be expected to rise in the future.

The largest numbers of threatened species occur in Latin American countries such as Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador. The highest levels of threat, however, are in the Caribbean, where more than 80% of amphibians are threatened in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica, and a staggering 92% in Haiti.

Although habitat loss clearly poses the greatest threat to amphibians, a newly recognized fungal disease is seriously affecting an increasing number of species.

The Centre for North American Herpetology - www.naherpetology.org
The Centre for North American Herpetology (CNAH) serves as a data bank for information about North American amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians, and promotes the study and conservation of them by financial support of selected publications, photography, and any other appropriate medium, as well as the establishment of awards for excellence in research about these fascinating creatures.

The CNAH has been established to play a pivotal role in identifying and, where possible, rewarding the research efforts of those individuals investigating problems that will clarify the biodiversity of North America's herpetofauna. It is vitally important to do so, lest undiscovered species pass into extinction before they can be revealed by modern investigation.

Project Golden Frog - www.ranadorada.org
In response to the declines and disappearances of Golden frog populations, a group of concerned biologists formed Project Golden Frog (PGF), a conservation initiative whose goal is to ensure the survival of one of the most well known amphibians in the world. The Golden frog is facing extinction mainly due to the chytrid fungal disease, but also from collection for illegal pet trade and habitat loss. The chytrid fungal disease was moving down Central America causing an 'extinction wave' and predicted to reach El Valle, Panama in 2006. In response, the conservation community designed the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Centre (EVACC), a facility to serve as a breeding, treatment and education centre for native Panama amphibians and to help prevent the extinction of endangered amphibians. But the fungus caught up to El Valle earlier than predicted and before the EVACC was built. There was no time to wait for the facility, so frogs were collected and are set up temporarily in Hotel Campestre. .Donations are requested support their rapid response to the extinction crisis.

Puerto Rican Crested Toad Species Survival Plan - www.aza.org/ConScience/ConScienceSSPFact
The Puerto Rican crested toad, Bufo (Peltophryne) lemur, is the only toad native to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican Crested toads once existed in two distinct populations; one in the north and the other in the south. However, the northern toads have not been seen in the wild since 1988 and there is only one population in the south in Guanica National Forest. The major causes for the crested toads decline include the introduction of species such as the marine toad, mongoose and rats, as well as habitat loss. A Species Survival Plan was developed through the American Zoo and Aquarium Association in 1984 for the Puerto Rican crested toad. A major component of the program is captive breeding and re-introduction. Each year tadpoles bred at numerous zoos, including the Toronto Zoo, are collectively shipped to Puerto Rico and released into the wild. In addition to breeding and release efforts, a high priority has been to establish public education and outreach programs.

Large and accurate Mascots
provide a link
between scientists
and the public © Toronto Zoo

The first Puerto Rican Crested Toads
to be re-introduced in Puerto Rico
were raised in laboratories at the Toronto Zoo

Turtle Island Conservation