Amphibian extinctions

[frogwoman]

Reptiles and Amphibians | ZSL

Pressures such as the deadly chytrid fungus, illegal trade, habitat loss and climate change threaten the future of amphibians and reptiles.

www.zsl.org

What we lose when we lose the world’s frogs

Amphibians survived the dinosaur extinction just fine. Why are they in peril now?

www.vox.com

Feel free to move this if its in the wrong place, its not only climate change.

The world's frogs and other amphibians are becoming increasingly threatened by climate change, pandemics and habitat loss. Something like 32% of the world's frogs are threatened with extinction and several amphibians have already gone extinct. Amphibians are important in getting rid of pests such as mosquitoes and providing food for other creatures among other things.

Thought this thread could keep track of things and provide ideas/updates on what people are doing to help really

 

[Pickman's model]

i must say i found the prospect of nuclear annihilation in the 1980s less stressful than the extinction event we're now living through

 

[frogwoman]

The Rabbs' Tree Frog Just Went Extinct

The last known member of his species has died at Atlanta Botanical Garden

blogs.scientificamerican.com

 

[frogwoman]

Thought this could also be a thread about what people are doing to help?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Thought this could also be a thread about what people are doing to help?

There's a lot that humans could do to help. We could ban Atrazine worldwide, or at least limit its use. We could also stop spreading around invasive species and unknown diseases across the world. I've lobbied to limit pesticide usage, but you pretty much get laughed at in a state run by big ag.

Do you have any ideas for what individuals can do? In the US, at least, you're not going to get much out of lawmakers. I suspect its the same in many places around the world.

 

[frogwoman]

There's a lot that humans could do to help. We could ban Atrazine worldwide, or at least limit its use. We could also stop spreading around invasive species and unknown diseases across the world. I've lobbied to limit pesticide usage, but you pretty much get laughed at in a state run by big ag.

Do you have any ideas for what individuals can do? In the US, at least, you're not going to get much out of lawmakers. I suspect its the same in many places around the world.

Sorry, what's Atrazine? Amphibians breathe through the skin so they're always going to be vulnerable to pesticides unfortunately.

 

[frogwoman]

Just looked it up

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Sorry, what's Atrazine? Amphibians breathe through the skin so they're always going to be vulnerable to pesticides unfortunately.

It's actually an herbicide that sees heavy use in the US. Its contaminated water sources for both humans and animals. Its so common that it shows up in blood tests of most humans in the US. It's also been linked to various cancers as well.

Atrazine is a chlorinated triazine systemic herbicide that is used to selectively control annual grasses and broadleaf weeds before they emerge. Pesticide products containing atrazine are registered for use on several agricultural crops, with the highest use on field corn, sweet corn, sorghum, and sugarcane. Additionally, atrazine products are registered for use on wheat, macadamia nuts, and guava, as well as non-agricultural uses such as nursery/ornamental and turf.

Atrazine | US EPA

Atrazine is a widely used herbicide that can be applied before and after planting to control broadleaf and grassy weeds. Atrazine is part of the triazine chemical class which includes simazine and propazine due to their common mechanism of toxicity.

www.epa.gov

Most of the use it gets is to spray on a field before planting to prevent weeds. One of the effects of this is that insect species that rely on some of those weeds, such as Monarch butterflies, don't have food or habitat needed to reproduce.
Monarch butterflies were recently listed as endangered. Their numbers have dropped dramatically in just a few years. I remember seeing masses of them when I was a child. Now, it's rare to see one.

PHOENIX — The iconic orange and black Monarch butterfly has been placed on an international list of endangered species.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the monarch butterfly in general, specifically the butterflies living in the Western United States.

Experts say in the 1980s, there were approximately 10 million Monarch butterflies in the West. As of 2021, there were only about 2,000.

"Climate change, whether it's warmer in certain regions where they're not getting the trigger that triggers them to migrate," said Adriane Grimaldi, Director of Education at Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale. "So they're staying there in place longer."

The Monarch butterfly migrates from Canada and the Northern US to Mexico for the Winter, then back up. Grimaldi said that staying in a warmer place disrupts the journey and makes it more likely that the butterfly could die before reproducing.

Habitat and food sources are also being lost, Grimaldi said.

Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed, so Grimaldi said the best way to help the butterflies is to plant more.

https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/monarch-butterfly-placed-on-an-international-list-of-endangered-species/75-30412ece-0b0c-48df-ae23-84b71beaad4a

I planted a pollinator garden, but it's not near enough when millions of acres have herbicides used on them that completely prevent milkweed from growing.

 

[frogwoman]

Amphibians drink through their skin as well.

 

[frogwoman]

Appetite for frogs’ legs in France and Belgium ‘driving species to extinction’ then there's this Pickman's model

 

[frogwoman]

Historic reintroduction reverses extinction of England’s rarest frog

The northern pool frog, England’s rarest amphibian, has been successfully reintroduced to Thompson Common, in Norfolk – reversing its disappearance from there in the 1990s.

www.arc-trust.org

This was a bit of good news. I saw the more common subspecies of this frog when in Romania.

 

[frogwoman]

Amphibian 'apocalypse' caused by most destructive pathogen ever

The first-ever global tally of the disease's toll reveals that it caused declines in at least 501 frog and salamander species.

www.nationalgeographic.com

 

[frogwoman]

A lot of these frog extinctions are being caused by the global pet trade unfortunately, and changing conditions meaning its easier for diseases like chytrid to spread. When it is too dry their skin will dry out, as well as it making it difficult for a frog to find food because there are fewer insects around. In light of this digging a pond or providing another sort of habitat like a log pile is a really useful thing to do. A pond also helps to cool down the air around the house.

 

[frogwoman]

Study provides new clues to killer frog disease

A new study aiming to unlock the secrets of a disease devastating frog populations has turned up some unexpected results, which may change how scientists combat the outbreak.

phys.org

 

[frogwoman]

Pobblebonk frogs have a weird trick for surviving very acidic pools

Highly acidic water usually breaks down a tadpole’s gill lining, but an Australian frog has evolved to suck in more protective calcium from the extreme ecosystem where it lives

www.newscientist.com

This is amazing

 

[frogwoman]

Amphibian microbiome could be key to fighting deadly fungal disease

Frogs with less diverse microbiomes are more severely affected by chytridiomycosis than those with a greater range of microbes, suggesting possible new treatments.

www.nhm.ac.uk

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

A lot of these frog extinctions are being caused by the global pet trade ...

A similar thing is happening with plants. There's a huge loss of cacti species going on. This is partly due to habitat loss, but also due to collectors wanting the rarest species. Often, they don't have a clue how to care for them, so they die. There's a huge criminal trade in exotic species of all types. They usually don't care if they remove every one of its kind from the wild, as long as they make a buck.

 

[frogwoman]

Also people removing tadpoles from ponds.

 

[frogwoman]

i was considering trying to catch the frogs and bring them inside in the event of another heatwave but now am largely persuaded it's really not a good idea as they will just try to jump out and probably injure themselves

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Here's an article about cactus:

The Sonoran Job: Cactus Theft in Arizona

For more than 50 years, PHOENIX magazine's experienced writers, editors, and designers have captured all sides of the Valley with award-winning and insightful writing, and groundbreaking reporting and design.

www.phoenixmag.com

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

i was considering trying to catch the frogs and bring them inside in the event of another heatwave but now am largely persuaded it's really not a good idea as they will just try to jump out and probably injure themselves

They generally tell you not to do that. This guy wanted to create his own "frog army." (I know that's not you're motive).

Relocating species like frogs and butterflies can have grave impacts, Curry said. “Instead of helping, [These TikTok users] are actually hurting the animals they’re releasing and all the animals in the environment that they’re releasing them into – it’s creating a vector for disease and invasive species,” she said.

Scientists say if true, the frog release is alarming given that human relocation of frogs is a top threat to the species. One fungus introduced by humans redistributing amphibians has caused a “mass extinction” event, wiping out more than 90 species of frogs.

“It’s the law of unintended consequences,” said Chris Nagano, who worked 27 years as an endangered species biologist at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “I have no doubt this person may have thought he was doing a good thing, but he may actually be driving these populations to extinction.”

TikTok ‘frog army’ stunt could have grave consequences, experts warn

Scientists alarmed at claims of releasing 10m frogs and 100m ladybugs to rack up viewers as relocating species can have ‘extremely negative consequences’

www.theguardian.com

 

[frogwoman]

They generally tell you not to do that. This guy wanted to create his own "frog army." (I know that's not you're motive).

TikTok ‘frog army’ stunt could have grave consequences, experts warn

Scientists alarmed at claims of releasing 10m frogs and 100m ladybugs to rack up viewers as relocating species can have ‘extremely negative consequences’

www.theguardian.com

It's the wrong time of year for that anyway.

 

[frogwoman]

Yeah definitely don't do that. I was considering relocating them while it was so hot but releasing them as soon as it cooled down but it seems to me they'd just get extremely stressed

 

[frogwoman]

Seems to me really shocking it's not being talked about more tbh likewise with insects

 

[8ball]

Seems to me really shocking it's not being talked about more tbh likewise with insects

Imo biodiversity loss is one of the three big urgent threats to humanity.
The others being climate change and the obscure kinds of poisoning from the chemicals that are winding up in the water / animals / in our bodies, whether hormone mimics or microplastics or whatever. There's always a lot of damage done by the time we even notice them.

 

[frogwoman]

Yeah we'll miss the frogs when they are gone.

 

[frogwoman]

Imo biodiversity loss is one of the three big urgent threats to humanity.
The others being climate change and the obscure kinds of poisoning from the chemicals that are winding up in the water / animals / in our bodies, whether hormone mimics or microplastics or whatever. There's always a lot of damage done by the time we even notice them.

There's lots of animals going extinct before they're even discovered. There are proposals to deem anything newly discovered as being endangered.

 

[frogwoman]

There's a horrible new invasive leech that is feeding on frogs and toads in big swarms apparently

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

A study of "bug splats" found that insect populations are really down.

From 1996 to 2017, the Washington Post explains, Professor Anders Moller of Paris-Saclay University drove a car along the same route in Denmark’s Jutland peninsula. He counted the number of bug splatters each year.

The result? Sudden bug death declined by 80% along one of his routes and 97% along the other.

The eye-opening results scientists found when they studied bug splats on cars

Years ago, I would drive across the state and have to stop periodically to wash the windshield. Now I can make multiple trips without having to clean it. In northern Nebraska, you'd often see huge flights of Monarchs in August, but you almost never see them in large numbers anymore.