Global Amphibian Decline and The Ecological Restoration of Wetlands

• Habitat Alteration/Loss

• Agriculture, Housing Developments, Urban Sprawl

• Disease

• Chytridiomycosis, Trematode Worms

• Climate Change

• Increased UV Radiation

• Pollution

• Herbicides, Insecticides, Fertilizers, Chemical Contaminants

• Nonindigenous Species

• Pet Trade

• Tiger salamanders, Axolotl’s, Pipid Frogs, Poison Dart Frogs, Red-eyed Tree Frogs

Causes of Amphibian Decline

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• They are particularly sensitive to environmental change• Important bio-indicators of environmental degradation

• Permeable skin makes them particularly susceptible to contaminants

• They are sensitive to land-use changes

• Lab specimens are used to study genetics, cellular function, and development

• They are cool animals!

32% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction

43% of amphibian species are in population decline

Why Are Amphibians Important?

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Their breeding-grounds have historically been filled in for more profitable enterprises• Disneyworld, Agriculture, Forestry

Amphibians have Complicated Lifestyles• Typically, the larval phase occurs in water, and the adult the phase occurs terrestrially

Little protection from Predators in large waterbodies

ISOLATED WETLANDS PROVIDE PREDATOR-FREE REPRODUCTIVE

GROUNDS

Challenges Amphibians Face

Small Constructed Isolated Wetlands in Most State Parks

Everglades National Park

ACE Basin

• Old rice fields restored into SC DNR managed wetlands

Phinizy Swamp

• Collects Augusta’s storm-water and purifies it before it reaches the Savannah River

Tuolumne River Floodplain Meadow Communities

• Invasion of lodgepole pines into palustrine wetlands

Ramsar Sites

• International wetland sites heavily managed for restoration of natural species compositions

Restoration Projects

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Most state parks create isolated wetlands as breeding-grounds for amphibians

Isolated wetlands are not protected under the Clean Water Act

NO FEDERAL PROTECTION

Small Isolated Wetland Restorations

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US Forest Service Borrow Pit

Photo courtesy of Joanna Hawley, MS Wildlife and Fisheries Biology

• Amphibians. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.webspawner.com/users/petcentralamphibians/index.html

• Blaustein, A. R., & Johnson, P. T. (2003). The complexity of deformed amphibians. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1(2)

• Blaustein, A. R., & Kiesecker, J. M. (2002). Complexity in conservation: lessons from the global decline of amphibian populations. Ecological Letters, (5)

• Conservation International, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science. (2004). Global amphibian assessment Washington, DC: Conservation International.

• Flink, S. (2007). Wetlands international: ramsar sites information service . Retrieved from http://ramsar.wetlands.org/RamsarInformationServiceHome/tabid/719/language/en-US/Default.aspx

• National Geographic: Wild Chronicles, (2009). Giant Japanese Salamanders [Web]. Available from http://www.youtube.com/NationalGeographic#p/search/0/VN60DCHHQ50

• Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web]. 2011. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Retrieved from http://amphibiaweb.org/

• Lips., K. R., Brem, F., Brenes, R., Reeve, J. D., & Alford, R. A. (2006). Emerging infectious disease and the loss of biodiversity in a neotropical amphibian community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(9), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30048554 doi: 10.1073

• Relyea, R. A. (2005). The impact of insecticides and herbicides on the biodiversity and productivity of aquatic communities. Ecological Applications, 15(2), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4543379

• Weldon, C., Preez, L. H., Hyatt, A. D., & Speare, R. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Emerging Infectious Diseases. (2004). Origin of the amphibian chytrid fungus

• Whigham, D. F. (1999). Ecological issues related to wetland preservation, restoration, creation, and assessment. The Science of the Total Environment, (240), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V78-3XK0PBH-1P&_user=590719&_coverDate=10%2F18%2F1999&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000030198&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=590719&md5=192ecd8a33b92bd3a9675ed339dd90d5&searchtype=a

Literature Cited