CALGARY SUN (Alberta) 29 May 03 It's getting tougher to be green . . .: Amphibian monitors need help with research (Angela Waite)

As a kid, I spent many hours by the pond trying to spot frogs, or catch my favorite amphibian, the large, striped (and fairly easy to catch) tiger salamander.

Luckily for the salamanders, my amphibiophobic mom never let me keep them.

Some researchers with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and the Alberta Conservation Association are catching and releasing amphibians too. Their reasons are a bit more scientific than mine were. They are trying to find out why some amphibian populations in Alberta are declining.

The northern leopard frog is listed as endangered. With the concern over its and other amphibian populations, the Alberta Amphibian Monitoring Program was launched.

The program is helping to establish where different amphibian species are located and their numbers. Hundreds of volunteers have helped out in the program by collecting data in various locations. By listening and observing frogs, salamanders and toads, and then recording their observations, they are providing valuable information to the researchers.

Small, but hardly insignificant, amphibians are our environmental monitors. With permeable skin, amphibians are more susceptible to the toxins in water or the air. They spend the first part of their life in water, then most of their adult life on land. It's feared the toxins we are spilling into the atmosphere or water supplies may be affecting these sensitive creatures.

However, we aren't really sure to what degree. It wasn't until three- legged and other deformed frogs were found in a pond in the U.S. that these animals received much media attention.

Amphibians are literally overlooked. Mostly nocturnal, we may not notice them and their wet habitats can be locations where we rarely venture. They do not serve much economic importance; we typically don't eat them or promote them to tourists and thus they don't get the attention other species do.

What we do know is that they may be the "canary in the mine", signaling something isn't quite right.

To make matters more difficult to understand, not all amphibians are in trouble. The tiger salamander and wood frog are doing well in Alberta. The wood frog, as it name implies, lives in the forest, sometimes quite a distance from water. The tiger salamander is typically found near bodies of water, but can survive in a variety of habitats including grasslands, forest and parkland.

The northern leopard frog can also be found far from water. It typically lives in a variety of habitats ranging across the prairies, but has seen a sharp decline in numbers. Their decline is a bit of a mystery.

On the global scene, amphibians are disappearing in undeveloped, pristine areas as well the developed areas, making a simple local management solution even more difficult. Global problems, like acid rain, reduction in the ozone layer or airborne pesticides may be contributing factors.

I saw the Amphibian Monitoring Program booth recently and their research looks interesting. They are actively seeking volunteers to help. So if you're looking for a night out that involves listening for croaks and spotting salamanders, call Kris Kendell with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development at (780) 422-4764.

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