STAR-TELEGRAM (Fort Worth, Texas) 31 July 07 Frogs, toads, newts and salamanders (Chris Vaughn)
Fort Worth: Frogs are in trouble.
Across the globe, from Central America to Australia to the Hill Country of Texas, amphibians are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Experts, some of them gathered in Fort Worth this week for a crisis intervention, estimate that close to one-third of all amphibians -- frogs, toads, salamanders and newts -- are threatened with extinction.
In North America, the news is better: Only 10 percent of the species are listed as endangered or threatened.
Their enemies come in many forms: habitat destruction and alteration, pesticide runoff, pharmaceuticals in streams and a particularly deadly fungus making its way around the globe.
"They have been around so very long, and when they start disappearing like they are now, we really need to pay attention," said Diane Barber, curator of cold-blooded animals at the Fort Worth Zoo and chairwoman of an advisory group for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
What's happening?
Officials at the Fort Worth Zoo, long home to a well-respected collection of amphibians, believed that zoo professionals, scientific researchers and conservationists needed to discuss the most endangered species in North America.
So a special meeting was organized, bringing professionals from Baltimore, New York, San Diego, London, Puerto Rico, Toronto and other cities.
The endangered animals must be listed in order of priority to get outside help, they said, so the group will be formulating a ranking system in the coming days.
In some cases, the amphibians may have to be removed from the wild until the threat is stabilized. In other cases, the zoos may identify which species are ready for reintroduction into the wild to boost the population.
"We're talking about those most endangered, those that may be extinct within one year to five years," Barber said.
Why do frogs and salamanders matter?
Amphibians are indicators of how healthy the land and water are in a given area.
They can't run or fly, nor can they pack up and migrate somewhere else. They live where they're born, on land and water.
"You can have the most wonderful wetland in the world, but if it's surrounded by a parking lot, you won't have amphibians," said Michael Lannoo, a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "They are great indicators of local conditions."
The other reason is that they are in the middle of the food chain. Frogs eat mosquitoes. Birds eat frogs. Eliminate frogs, and the predator-prey chain gets fouled up.
"This analogy falls short, but they are like midlevel managers at a company," Lannoo said. "You need someone between the CEO and the grunts at their desks. If you don't have that intermediate step, you don't have a complete ecosystem."
Is it all doom and gloom?
The experts say no.
Only one species of the 293 in the United States and Canada has been documented into extinction: the Vegas Valley leopard frog, a casualty of Bugsy Siegel's big dreams for Las Vegas in the postwar 1940s.
People can get involved in conservation issues, make informed political decisions and decide how to use their property to benefit animals, Lannoo said.
"While the public tends to hear nothing but bad news, there is still habitat available for all species who were here when this country was settled," he said.
Frogs, toads, newts and salamanders