tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/frogs-1483/articlesFrogs – The Conversation2023-12-27T20:26:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2139762023-12-27T20:26:20Z2023-12-27T20:26:20Z‘Foul and loathsome’ or jewels of the natural world? The complicated history of human-frog relations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549226/original/file-20230920-27-n3caid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5176%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When was the last time you saw a frog? Perhaps you came across one in your garden and wondered at its little hands, glossy skin and what looked very much like a contented smile.</p>
<p>Maybe you regularly see them on Instagram or TikTok, where “frog accounts” have proliferated in recent years. People share adorable cartoon frogs, coo over crocheted frogs or go gaga for <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@frog._.dad/video/7246026248227491099?lang=en&q=frog&t=1695172051974">frogs dressed in cute hats</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, our fascination with frogs isn’t new. As <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/eh/2022/00000028/00000001/art00007">our research has found</a>, the history of human-frog relations is long and complicated – and not all of it is nice.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="TiktokEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@frog._.dad/video/7246026248227491099?lang=en\u0026q=frog\u0026t=1695172051974"}"></div></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-frogs-are-dying-en-masse-again-and-we-need-your-help-to-find-out-why-184255">Australian frogs are dying en masse again, and we need your help to find out why</a>
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<h2>Why we love frogs</h2>
<p>There is a rich history of people <em>really</em> loving frogs. </p>
<p>This is interesting, because many people much prefer mammals and birds over reptiles and amphibians. </p>
<p>But the frog is an exception – for a lot of reasons. People tend to be attracted to baby-like faces. Many species of frog have the large eyes characteristic of young animals, humans included. </p>
<p>Having no teeth and no sharp claws, they also do not seem to be immediately threatening, while many of them have beautiful skin colouring and some are improbably tiny. </p>
<p>Frogs are truly among the jewels of the natural world, unlike toads which – with their more mundane colours and “warty skins” – do not usually inspire the same sense of enchantment. </p>
<p>Their beauty connects us to the wider riches of a vibrant nature hidden from most people’s sight in the dense rainforests of the tropical regions.</p>
<p>And they also connect us to nature in our own backyards. At certain times of the year, they spontaneously appear in our gardens and ponds. They can feel like special visitors from the natural world.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnr90omjqsE","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Dissecting human feelings for frogs</h2>
<p>Yet relationships between people and frogs haven’t always been so positive. In fact, frogs occupy complicated places across cultures all over the world. </p>
<p>In the Western tradition, the legacy of biblical and classical sources was both negative and longstanding. </p>
<p>References to frogs in the Bible rendered them the instrument of divine anger as a swarming plague.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An etching from the late 1700s shows a plague of frogs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555125/original/file-20231022-15-6uzo15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An etching from the late 1700s shows a plague of frogs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mrhcn8sj">Wellcome Collection</a></span>
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<p>Frogs challenged early modern zoological taxonomies, moving between classification as serpent, insect or reptile.</p>
<p>Perhaps their resistance to easy placement by humans explains the strong emotional language about them used by Swedish naturalist (and “father of modern taxonomy”) Carl Linnaeus.</p>
<p>When he considered the Amphibia in his 1758 <a href="https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10277#page/216/mode/1up"><em>Systema Naturae</em></a>, he <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131111000622/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/8238/1/SHIS_100.pdf">noted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>These foul and loathsome animals are abhorrent because of their cold body, pale colour, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom.</p>
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<p>In modern science, they sit in a branch of zoology, herpetology, that brings frogs together as “creeping animals” with snakes and lizards.</p>
<p>Frogs have also (or perhaps consequently) suffered in the service of science since at least the eighteenth century because it seemed to be possible to easily replicate experiments across multiple frog specimens. </p>
<p>Frogs were particularly crucial to the study of muscles and nerves. This led to ever more violent encounters between experimenters and frog bodies. Italian scientist Luigi Galvani, for example, did experiments in the late 18th century on legs of frogs to investigate what he thought of as “<a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/galvani-discovers-animal-electricity">animal electricity</a>”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Legs of dissected frogs, and various metallic apparatus used to measure what was thought to be electricity flowing in animals" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557188/original/file-20231101-21-hhtsxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Scientist Luigi Galvani’s 18th-century diagrams of dissected frog legs and various metallic apparatus he used to measure what was thought to be electricity flowing in animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3b41495/">Library of Congress</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In this sense, frogs were valued as significant scientific objects, their value lying in their flesh, their nervous systems, rather than in their status as living, feeling beings in the world. </p>
<p>In time, experiments with frogs moved beyond the laboratory into the classroom. In the 1930s, schoolchildren were expected to find frogs and bring them to school for dissection in biology classes. </p>
<p>This practice was, however, somewhat controversial, with opponents <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/eh/2022/00000028/00000001/art00007">expressing sentimental attachment</a> to frogs and concerns that such animal cruelty would lead to barbarism.</p>
<h2>Recognising the fragility of frogs</h2>
<p>So, our relationship with frogs is complicated. From the frogs of <a href="https://aesopsfables.org/C11_aesops_fables_about_frogs.html">Aesop’s Fables</a> to the meme <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_the_Frog">Pepe the Frog</a>, we have projected our own feelings and frustrations onto frogs, and exploited them for science and education. </p>
<p>Frogs have also borne the brunt of our failures as environmental stewards. </p>
<p>By 1990, the world was seeing a global pattern of decline in frog populations due to <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1103538">destruction and degradation of habitat for agriculture and logging</a>, as well as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/deadly-frog-fungus-has-wiped-out-90-species-and-threatens-hundreds-more-113846">global amphibian pandemic caused by the chytrid fungus</a>.</p>
<p>Climate change is also making life hard for many species. In 2022, over 40% of amphibian species (of which frogs and toads are by far the largest group) were <a href="https://downloads.ctfassets.net/tftu3vbfu92u/7C9C6rtfnonRArYQYsFzHW/0cf85bd3ff9084907cc3cbf14aed3a23/SOTWA_-_final_10.3.23.pdf">threatened with extinction</a>. Their vulnerability has seen the frog – especially the red-eyed tree frog – become a symbol for the environment more generally.</p>
<p>So we should delight in frogs and marvel at how beautiful and special they are while we still can, and consider how we might <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-name-the-26-australian-frogs-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-by-2040-and-how-to-save-them-166339">help save them</a>. </p>
<p>Something to reflect on next time you are lucky enough to spot a frog.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-recorded-frog-calls-on-their-smartphones-after-the-bushfires-and-the-results-are-remarkable-146578">Australians recorded frog calls on their smartphones after the bushfires – and the results are remarkable</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Broomhall receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Gaynor receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Flack does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is a rich history of people really loving frogs. But the history of human-frog relations is long and complicated – and not all of it is nice.Susan Broomhall, Director, Gender and Women's History Research Centre, Australian Catholic UniversityAndrea Gaynor, Professor of History, The University of Western AustraliaAndy Flack, Senior Lecturer in Modern and Environmental History, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2130722023-09-13T20:05:56Z2023-09-13T20:05:56ZOur unsung farm dams provide vital habitat to threatened species of frogs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547437/original/file-20230911-28-b3mmo6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C3259%2C2433&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Frogs are in trouble. While many of the world’s animal species are now at risk from habitat loss, climate change and other human pressures, frogs are particularly at risk. </p>
<p>That’s because they rely on fresh water – and rivers, creeks and lakes are especially vulnerable to threats and habitat loss. Freshwater creatures are going extinct faster than land or sea-based lifeforms. Frogs are at even higher risk because their life stages require pristine terrestrial and aquatic habitats – and because the lethal <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-worst-animal-disease-is-killing-frogs-worldwide-a-testing-breakthrough-could-help-save-them-205872">amphibian chytrid fungus</a> is after them.</p>
<p>Frogs could use some good news. Here it is: the farm dam. These ubiquitous human-made ponds are scattered across Australia’s rural regions. Our new research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110270">has found</a> they have become home to over two-fifths of Australia’s 240-plus surviving frog species. Better still, as we compiled more than 100,000 audio recordings made by citizen scientists, we could hear the unmistakable calls of species threatened with extinction, such as the green and golden bell frog.</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="53" data-image="" data-title="Vocalisation of the growling grass frog recorded by a citizen scientist using FrogID" data-size="433238" data-source="Matt Clancy" data-source-url="" data-license="CC BY-NC" data-license-url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2873/litoria-raniformis-frogid-163262-matt-clancy.m4a" type="audio/mp4">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
Vocalisation of the growling grass frog recorded by a citizen scientist using FrogID.
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Clancy</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a><span class="download"><span>423 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2873/litoria-raniformis-frogid-163262-matt-clancy.m4a">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="growling grass frog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547374/original/file-20230911-17-andzop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the recordings, we heard the welcome calls of the growling grass frog thousands of times near farm dams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Which dams are important for frogs?</h2>
<p>Australia has <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/2/319">almost 1.8 million</a> farm dams, storing 20 times the volume of Sydney Harbour. Tens of thousands more are excavated each year. </p>
<p>But which of these small, widely distributed ponds offer the best habitat for frogs? And which of our native frogs are able to use them?</p>
<p>To find out, we drew heavily on the power of citizen science. Thousands of people used the Australian Museum’s <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/">FrogID app</a> or Melbourne Water’s <a href="https://www.melbournewater.com.au/education/citizen-science/frog-census">Frog Census app</a> to record calling frogs and upload the audio. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/farmers-are-famously-self-reliant-why-not-use-farm-dams-as-mini-hydro-plants-212374">Farmers are famously self-reliant. Why not use farm dams as mini-hydro plants?</a>
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<p>We compiled more than 100,000 recordings near 8,800 farm dam sites. When experts listened to these recordings, they identified 107 different species. </p>
<p>What we were most excited by was discovering species at very real risk of extinction, croaking happily in unnamed dams. These included growling grass frogs (<em>Litoria raniformis</em>), green and golden bell frogs (<em>Litoria aurea</em>), Sloane’s froglet (<em>Crinia sloanei</em>) and northern heath frogs (<em>Litoria littlejohni</em>). </p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="21" data-image="" data-title="Recording of Sloane’s Froglet (Crinia sloanei) by a citizen scientist using FrogID" data-size="171771" data-source="Matt Lincoln" data-source-url="" data-license="CC BY-NC" data-license-url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2874/crinia-sloanei-frogid-277959-matt-lincoln.m4a" type="audio/mp4">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
Recording of Sloane’s Froglet (Crinia sloanei) by a citizen scientist using FrogID.
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Lincoln</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a><span class="download"><span>168 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2874/crinia-sloanei-frogid-277959-matt-lincoln.m4a">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<p>This tells us that farm dams can provide breeding habitat for frogs that are vulnerable to extinction – not just for common species.</p>
<p>In the recordings, we heard the growling grass frog over 3,200 times near 315 farm dams dotted around southeast Australia. That’s an important find, given it’s one of six priority frog species in the government’s threatened species <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/action-plan/priority-frogs">action plan</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="green golden bell frog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547373/original/file-20230911-15-xd0q9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We heard the vulnerable green and golden bell frog seven times near farm dams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley/Australian Museum and UNSW</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Frogs love mid-sized old dams</h2>
<p>When we crunched the numbers, we found distinct trends in frog abundance. The dams richest in frog species were those older than 20 years, with a medium surface area around 0.1 hectares (dams get a lot bigger than this), and located in areas with high rainfall and intermediate temperatures.</p>
<p>That makes sense. The older the dam, the more natural it becomes. Aquatic plants have time to grow, while shrubs and plants around the dam provide shelter and calling sites for frogs.</p>
<p>Medium size dams provide frogs with the ideal balance between protection from drying out and reduced danger from fish and reptile predators.</p>
<p>We also detected more frog species in dams close to rivers, lakes or conservation sites. Leapfrogging between nearby wetlands is likely to be an important way frogs colonise farm dams.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="figure showing richer and less rich farm dam frog biodiversity" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547372/original/file-20230911-23-dz1oto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The most frog species were found in farm dams older than 20 years, with a medium surface area (1000m² on average), and in rainfall catchments under 10 hectares. There’s even greater frog diversity near other freshwater systems or conservation areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Farms and frogs can happily coexist</h2>
<p>Is there a clash between what farmers want from their dams and what frogs need? Not necessarily. </p>
<p>It’s certainly true that the banks of dams can, if not looked after, be trampled by livestock into mud. But when farmers fence off parts of the dam banks to protect plants, it benefits <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0256089">livestock health</a>, increases <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.8636">water quality</a>, cuts <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.16237">greenhouse gas emissions</a>, and safeguards breeding habitats for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.8636">crustaceans</a>, <a href="https://avianres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40657-016-0058-x">birds</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880918303979">amphibians</a>, which, in Australia, means frogs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="northern heath frog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547376/original/file-20230911-19-ritc0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We heard the endangered northern heath frog 22 times near farm dams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley/Australian Museum and UNSW</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers from <a href="https://www.sustainablefarms.org.au/on-the-farm/farm-dams/">Sustainable Farms</a> have released guides on how to make farm dams even better oases for native wildlife by <a href="https://www.sustainablefarms.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Farm-dams-brochure-v3_online.pdf">managing</a> and <a href="https://www.sustainablefarms.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Farm-Dam-Planting-Guide-brochure-8.2.pdf">revegetating</a> farm dams to boost water quality and biodiversity. </p>
<p>As the federal government advances its plans for a nature repair market, it’s possible we could see a surge of interest in farm dams. </p>
<p>In this scenario, making farm dams more wildlife-friendly could net farmers and landholders biodiversity credits. Given the wealth of frog species in dams, this could present a cost-effective strategy. </p>
<p>Does this mean we should encourage more farm dams? Not necessarily. Farm dams can compete for water with natural freshwater systems and reduce habitat for species relying on ephemeral ponds or streams to breed. Any future financial incentives to re-wild farm dams must not reward the mass creation of farm dams. </p>
<p>As we grapple with the ongoing biodiversity crisis, it makes sense to make the most of what we have. Farm dams are everywhere. Let’s make them a haven for our frogs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hecs-for-farmers-nature-repair-loans-could-help-biodiversity-recover-and-boost-farm-productivity-204040">HECS for farmers? Nature repair loans could help biodiversity recover – and boost farm productivity</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213072/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martino Malerba receives funding from the Australian Research Council through the DECRA program (DE220100752). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Don Driscoll receives funding from Australian Pacific Science Foundation and Glenelg Catchment Management Authority to study frog conservation and management. He is affiliated with the Ecological Society of Australia and Society for Conservation Biology.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodi Rowley is the Lead Scientist of the Australian Museum's citizen science project, FrogID. She has received funding from state, federal and philanthropic agencies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Macreadie receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Wright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia has almost 1.8 million farm dams – and some are home to threatened frog speciesMartino Malerba, ARC DECRA Fellow, Deakin UniversityDon Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin UniversityJodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW SydneyNick Wright, Research scientist, Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development, The University of Western AustraliaPeter Macreadie, Professor of Marine Science & Founder/Director of Blue Carbon Lab, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2121082023-08-29T04:26:14Z2023-08-29T04:26:14ZHow a lethal fungus is shrinking living space for our frogs<p>In 1993, frogs were found dying <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.95.15.9031">en masse</a> in Far North Queensland. When scientists analysed their bodies, they found something weird. Their small bodies were covered in spores. </p>
<p>It was an epidemic. An aquatic fungus had eaten the keratin in their skin, compromising its function and leading to cardiac arrest. And worse, the amphibian chytrid fungus (<em>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</em>) had been quietly spreading around the world, from South America to Europe, killing frogs wherever it went. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545151/original/file-20230829-19-2sjqta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">It doesn’t look lethal – but looks can be deceiving. This is a chytrid zoosporangium, which will release zoospores that propel themselves through water in search of amphibian hosts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batrachochytrium_dendrobatidis#/media/File:CSIRO_ScienceImage_1392_Scanning_Electron_Micrograph_of_Chytrid_Fungus.jpg">CSIRO/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Likely native to the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6311102/">Korean Peninsula</a>, it was first detected in Australia in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320716310126">late 1970s</a>. As it spread, it <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320716310126">caused the extinction</a> of at least four Australian frog species and probably three others. </p>
<p>This lethal pathogen is a selective killer. As our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02155-0">new research</a> shows, it effectively makes some areas a no-go zone for susceptible frog species. The fungus doesn’t like hot conditions. But in cooler environments – such as in southern Australia and higher up in mountain ranges – it flourishes. Mortality rates in these environments can approach 100% for some frog species. </p>
<h2>Pushed from the highlands</h2>
<p>Australia is rich in frogs, with 247 surviving species at last count. Most are endemic to the continent – and many are spectacularly beautiful or, like the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/feb/21/the-15-most-interesting-australian-frogs-sorted">turtle frog</a>, bizarre. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="turtle frog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545161/original/file-20230829-30-f0vm7l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The turtle frog (Myobatrachus gouldii) is one of Australia’s strangest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Zozaya/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The gorgeous Australian lace-lid treefrog was once widespread across the rainforests of Queensland’s Wet Tropics, which run from Townsville to Cooktown, stretching from sea level up to Queensland’s highest mountain, the 1,622 metre Mt Bartle Frere. </p>
<p>Lace-lid treefrogs once lived throughout these forests, whether on mountains or down near sea level. But they have been driven from rainforests above 400 metres. Down lower, the heat makes it harder for chytrid to kill, and the frog’s higher breeding rate can outpace deaths from the disease. </p>
<h2>No-go zones</h2>
<p>Australians know full well about the damage introduced species can do. Cane toads kill native predators like quolls who aren’t used to their toxin. Cats and foxes have driven many small mammals to extinction. </p>
<p>But even when a species survives contact with an introduced species, it can be forever changed. </p>
<p>That’s because of less visible effects introduced species like chytrid fungus can have, such as shrinking the areas where native species can survive. When this happens, our species can be pushed into smaller parts of their original range, known as environmental refuges. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-worst-animal-disease-is-killing-frogs-worldwide-a-testing-breakthrough-could-help-save-them-205872">The world's worst animal disease is killing frogs worldwide. A testing breakthrough could help save them</a>
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<p>As our research shows, it’s not just geographic range that changes. It also changes their niche – the set of environmental conditions where species can survive. Introduced species can actually force much larger contractions to a native species’ niche than to its geographic range. </p>
<p>You might wonder how that can be. It’s because the damage done by introduced species can vary a lot depending on the environment. Introduced species have their own niche – climates and environments where they thrive, and areas where they don’t. </p>
<p>Frog species that survived the initial epidemics don’t just persist in random parts of their old range. Hotter, wetter areas or those with less temperature variability become refuges. Chytrid is still widespread here, but it’s less lethal. </p>
<p>Part of the puzzle is also the fact these refuge areas are naturally easier places for frogs to survive and reproduce. Where populations thrive, they have greater resilience and stand a better chance of surviving the fungus. </p>
<h2>Pushed into refuges</h2>
<p>The pattern we document isn’t just seen in frogs. Researchers suspect similar changes have been forced on many native species impacted by introduced species. </p>
<p>Consider the bush-stone curlew – a long-legged, endearing bird with eerie <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqZsdBF-eKg&ab_channel=Janegrowsgardenrooms">night cries</a>. Many of us will have seen them haunting parks and beer gardens across northern Australia. But the same bird is now extinct or critically endangered in southern Australia, where it used to roam. Why? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="bush-stone curlew" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545164/original/file-20230829-15-qleqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Bush-stone curlews are lanky, unusual birds with a distinctive call.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Habitat loss has played a role, but this species is <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/mu/mu02029">highly susceptible</a> to foxes. Foxes don’t much like the humidity of tropical and subtropical Australia. As a result, the curlew has been pushed out of the drier parts of its niche. </p>
<p>Niche contractions due to introduced species are likely to be widespread but little-studied. </p>
<p>If a species has a shrinking niche, it may change where conservationists direct their efforts. To give threatened species the best chance of survival, we might have to direct our energies to safeguarding them in their environmental refuges, safe from introduced predators or diseases.</p>
<p>When scientists assess how a species is going, we often look at changes in geographic range to gauge the level of risk to the species, from vulnerable through to extinct in the wild. </p>
<p>But this can have limitations. What our work has shown is that the survivable niche for species can shrink much more than its geographic range, reducing resilience to new environmental challenges. If frog species are forced out of upland areas, they may be at more risk from climate change, given higher elevations are likely to be <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.1824">most resilient</a> to climate change. </p>
<p>There’s a silver lining here, though. Species can be more resilient than we assume in the face of new threats. Some populations may be hard hit, while others escape. Understanding why that is will be key to give our native species the best chance of surviving an uncertain future. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-disease-has-driven-7-australian-frogs-to-extinction-but-this-endangered-frog-is-fighting-back-189491">A deadly disease has driven 7 Australian frogs to extinction – but this endangered frog is fighting back</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey Heard is a member of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network at the University of Queensland, which is funded under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). The Threatened Species Index, of which Geoffrey Heard is a Science Advisor, has received co-funding from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water of the Australian Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Scheele receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Conrad Hoskin receives funding from the Department of Environment and Science (Queensland Government) and the Australian Research Council (ARC). He is affiliated with the College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jarrod Sopniewski is supported by a Hackett Postgraduate Research Scholarship at the University of Western Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodi Rowley has received funding from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, the Australian Museum Foundation and other state, federal and philanthropic agencies.</span></em></p>Introduced species and diseases can drive native species into smaller environmental niches – and that could mean change to how we work to conserve them.Geoffrey Heard, Research fellow, Australian National University and, The University of QueenslandBenjamin Scheele, Research Fellow in Ecology, Australian National UniversityConrad Hoskin, Senior Lecturer, College of Science & Engineering, James Cook UniversityJarrod Sopniewski, PhD student, The University of Western AustraliaJodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2058722023-05-23T20:11:17Z2023-05-23T20:11:17ZThe world’s worst animal disease is killing frogs worldwide. A testing breakthrough could help save them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527431/original/file-20230522-29-ir3vv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C568%2C7529%2C4822&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/EP_OHkgn1JI">Jack Hamilton/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the past 40 years, a devastating fungal disease has been ravaging frog populations around the world, wiping out 90 species. Unlike the global COVID-19 pandemic, you may not even be aware of this “panzootic” – a pandemic in the animal world. Yet it’s the world’s worst wildlife disease. </p>
<p>Recently published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/9980566">Transboundary and Emerging Diseases</a>, a multinational study has now developed a method to detect all known strains of this disease, caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus. This breakthrough will advance our ability to detect and research this disease, working towards a widely available cure.</p>
<h2>An extreme mortality rate</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aav0379">Chytridiomycosis</a>, or “chytrid” for short, has driven severe declines in over 500 frog species and caused 90 extinctions, including seven in Australia. </p>
<p>The extreme rate of mortality, and the high number of species affected, makes chytrid unequivocally <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aav0379">the deadliest animal disease known to date</a>.</p>
<p>Chytrid infects frogs by reproducing in their skin. The single-celled fungus enters a skin cell, multiplies, then breaks back out onto the surface of the animal. This damage to the skin affects the frog’s ability to balance water and salt levels, and eventually leads to death if infection levels are high enough.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/before-the-last-of-us-i-was-part-of-an-international-team-to-chart-the-threat-of-killer-fungi-this-is-what-we-found-199593">Before The Last of Us, I was part of an international team to chart the threat of killer fungi. This is what we found</a>
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<p>Chytrid <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aar1965">originated</a> in Asia. It’s believed that global travel and trade in amphibians led to the disease being unwittingly spread to other continents.</p>
<p>Frogs in regions such as Australia and the Americas did not have the evolutionary history with chytrid that could grant them resistance. So, when they were exposed to this new pathogen, the results were devastating.</p>
<p>Many species’ immune systems were simply not equipped to defend against the disease, and mass mortalities ensued. In the 1980s, amphibian biologists began to notice sharp population declines, and in 1998, the chytrid fungal pathogen was finally <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.95.15.9031">recognised as the culprit</a>.</p>
<p>Since then, much research has focused on infection trends and how to protect vulnerable frog species. To track such trends, we need a reliable way to detect chytrid in the first place.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dead white frog floating in water with the belly up and legs splayed" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527464/original/file-20230522-27-xc87e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chytrid infections have an extremely high mortality rate, decimating not just entire populations, but even entire species of frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dead-frog-floating-on-water-2282145547">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An imperfect swab</h2>
<p>To find out if a frog is carrying chytrid, researchers swab the animal and run the same type of test you might recognise from COVID-19 testing – a qPCR. It stands for quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and simply put, is a way to measure the volume of DNA from a species of interest. The test <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.15.9031">was developed at CSIRO in 2004</a>; unlike a COVID test, however, scientists swab the frog’s skin, not the nose.</p>
<p>Because this test was developed from chytrid in Australia, decades after the pathogen’s arrival in the country, a divergence between the Australian and Asian strains meant this test could not detect chytrid in its region of origin. This has been a major limitation to the past two decades of chytrid research.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vaccinating-frogs-may-or-may-not-protect-them-against-a-pandemic-but-it-does-provide-another-option-for-conservation-194231">'Vaccinating' frogs may or may not protect them against a pandemic – but it does provide another option for conservation</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Over the past several years, a team led by researchers at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in India has been working on a new qPCR test that can detect strains of chytrid from Asia. In collaboration with researchers in Australia and Panama, we have now verified the new test also reliably detects chytrid in these countries.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the test can detect another closely related species of chytrid that infects salamanders. The test is also more sensitive, meaning it can detect very low infection levels – thereby broadening the scope of species we can study. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and yellow salamander swimming in clear creek water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527465/original/file-20230522-23-88olmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Salamanders are another group of animals at risk of widespread chytrid fungal disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-lizard-fire-salamander-water-spring-1651663024">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Natural immunity?</h2>
<p>The most puzzling thing about chytrid is that some amphibian species – even those that have not evolved with the pathogen – don’t become sick when they carry the fungus. These species have some form of natural immune resistance.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr095">frog immunity</a> is extremely complex. Immunity might come from anti-microbial chemicals within the skin, symbiotic bacteria on the skin, white blood cells and antibodies in the blood, or combinations of these mechanisms.</p>
<p>So far, no clear trend has been found between resistance and immune function. To make matters more complicated, there is also evidence chytrid can suppress a host’s immune response. </p>
<p>Because there haven’t been any observed chytrid declines in Asia, and because detecting chytrid in Asia has been difficult, Asia is lagging behind the rest of the world in chytrid research. Yet the new qPCR test detected high levels of chytrid in a range of amphibian species across India.</p>
<p>Having the ability to study chytrid in its region of origin may help us understand how Asian species evolved resistance – research that may hold a key to help researchers develop a cure for those species in Australia, North and South America, and Europe that are now on the brink. </p>
<p>While the new qPCR test was successful at detecting chytrid in samples from India, Australia, and Panama, we will need to validate and promote the method so it becomes the new gold standard for chytrid testing. Future work will involve using the test to analyse samples from Europe, and samples from Brazil where genetic studies show that chytrid has diverged.</p>
<p>In time, this new way to detect chytrid could be the first step in helping to save frogs – the hidden gems of our forests and wetlands.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kaya Klop-Toker received funding from the Australian Academy of Science. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karthikeyan Vasudevan receives funding from Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, India. </span></em></p>The chytrid fungal disease has been decimating frog populations worldwide for decades, and research progress has been slow. A new method for detecting the disease could help change its course.Kaya Klop-Toker, Conservation Biology Researcher, University of NewcastleKarthikeyan Vasudevan, Chief Scientist, CSIR - Centre for Cellular & Molecular BiologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054012023-05-16T02:59:48Z2023-05-16T02:59:48ZIllegal, occasionally deadly, and not much fun. What is the frog toxin Kambô and why do people use it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526073/original/file-20230515-175760-zv2sde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C0%2C6463%2C4305&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kambô is an oozy substance harvested from the defensive skin secretions of the Amazonian giant monkey tree frog. In the traditional medicine of <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.89.22.10960">some indigenous peoples of the Amazon</a>, Kambô is applied to superficial burns on the skin of participants to produce an intense purging effect. </p>
<p>In the past decade, Kambô use has also been <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/amazonian-tree-frogs-poison-part-latest-super-cleanse/story?id=46431345">on the rise</a> in neo-shamanic or complementary medicine in Western countries. Many users say they experience positive after-effects, but bad outcomes ranging from prolonged vomiting to seizures and even death have also been reported.</p>
<p>In Brazil, it’s <a href="https://www-bbc-com.translate.goog/mundo/noticias/2016/04/160425_salud_kambo_veneno_sapo_amazonico_medicina_polemica_lv?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp">illegal to sell or market Kambô</a>. In Australia, where <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/13/alternative-reality-two-kambo-deaths-spark-soul-searching-in-australias-counter-culture-capital">two deaths after Kambô rituals</a> have led to coronial inquests, it was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/06/kambo-a-lethal-frog-mucous-used-in-shamanic-rituals-banned-by-tga-after-reports-of-deaths">listed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in 2021 as a Schedule 10 poison</a>: “a substance of such danger to health as to warrant prohibition of sale, supply and use”.</p>
<p>Despite government bans and several fatalities, Kambô use in Western countries still seems to be going strong. So what does Kambô do, and what do users get out of it?</p>
<h2>The Kambô ritual</h2>
<p><a href="https://journals.openedition.org/pontourbe/2384">Kambô comes from the giant monkey tree frog</a> (<em>Phyllomedusa bicolor</em>) which lives in the Upper Amazon rainforest. The frogs are captured and their limbs are tied with thread to four vertical twigs, to enable harvesting of their secretions by gentle scraping. The frogs are then released, physically unharmed.</p>
<p>The clear mucus-like secretion is typically spread onto bamboo sticks and air-dried for storage and transport. The Kambô is then prepared by reconstituting with water before application.</p>
<p>Kambô contains a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23978473221085746">range of biologically active molecules</a> that most likely provide the frogs with defences against predators.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo showing a frog stretched out between some sticks while a person runs another stick along its body." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526064/original/file-20230515-167825-t81es0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To harvest Kambô, the defensive secretions of the frog are scraped off before the frog is released, unharmed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the ritual, superficial burns are first made on the recipient’s skin, then Kambô is applied to the burns using a short length of rainforest vine. Next, the thick red sap of the “dragon’s blood” tree (<em>Croton lechleri</em>) is applied to the burns as an antiseptic.</p>
<p>Traditionally, among the indigenous Amazonian tribes that use Kambô, there is virtually no ceremony involved. It plays more of a role in their traditional medicine and hunting practices than in informing their cosmology.</p>
<p>In Kambô rituals catering to Westerners, the practice is often carried out in a ceremony involving songs, musical instruments, burning of incense, and prayers.</p>
<p>Traditionally, three to five small burns are made with a smouldering stick on the upper arm or lower leg of the recipient. </p>
<p>In Western neo-shamanic practice, however, Kambô is often applied to a larger number of burns. The burns may be located elsewhere on the body, including the neck, upper back, chest, and the Yogic chakra locations.</p>
<h2>What Kambô does to the body</h2>
<p>Following introduction via the small burns, the active ingredients of the Kambô pass rapidly into the body. They move through the lymphatic system – essentially the body’s drainage system, running parallel to the blood circulatory system – and thence into the bloodstream.</p>
<p>As a result, participants experience a short, intense purgative experience. The <a href="https://www.clinmedjournals.org/articles/iacp/international-archives-of-clinical-pharmacology-iacp-4-017.php?jid=iacp">physiological effects are complex</a>, rapid and sometimes paradoxical.</p>
<p>Typically, the first symptoms reported are an initial rush of heat and redness of the face. Nausea and vomiting are often experienced within several minutes, accompanied by general malaise, racing heart, dizziness and swelling of the face, and sometimes an urge to defecate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of a person's shoulder with four dark dots on a patch of reddened skin." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526065/original/file-20230515-163795-uqhdtl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kambô is typically applied to superficial burns, which are then covered with an antiseptic sap.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.peertechzpublications.com/articles/OJPM-2-107.php">Further effects</a> include the feeling of a lump in the throat or difficulty swallowing, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, runny nose and tears, swollen lips, eyelids or face, and occasionally a swollen tongue or throat.</p>
<p>These physiological effects are generally expected, and indeed sought, by those performing and undergoing the Kambô ritual.</p>
<p>Aside from the range of physiological effects discussed above, Kambô is not regarded as exerting any direct psychedelic or hallucinogenic effects. Nor is it known to be used by anyone for this purpose.</p>
<h2>What can go wrong?</h2>
<p>The duration of the physical effects is usually 15–30 minutes. However, individual responses vary considerably and, on occasion, the symptoms may last several hours.</p>
<p>Kambô has caused harm in only a very limited number of documented cases, although the documented harms <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1556-4029.13641">have included death</a>. A handful of case reports describe incidents of hepatitis, psychosis, prolonged vomiting, hyponatremia (low blood sodium), seizure, rupture of the oesophagus and cardiac arrest.</p>
<p>Those extreme consequences are particularly few relative to the presumably large number of administrations globally, in both the traditional indigenous and the recent Western contexts.</p>
<p>Accurate figures about usage are impossible to obtain, but <a href="https://neip.info/texto/o-kambo-na-rede-divulgacao-de-uma-pratica-tradicional-indigena-na-internet/">one academic source</a> notes over 6,000 members of various closed Facebook groups devoted to Kambô, and the International Association of Kambô Practitioners’ Facebook page has over 2,500 followers.</p>
<h2>What are the perceived benefits of Kambô?</h2>
<p>Despite the documented harms, the great majority of users of Kambô <a href="https://juniperpublishers.com/jojcs/JOJCS.MS.ID.555739.php">anecdotally report</a> positive physical, emotional and spiritual after-effects.</p>
<p>In Western societies, including Australia, the use of Kambô for healing or wellness has risen rapidly in recent years. The rise has coincided with the emergence of a subculture that questions the merits of the Western medical model and embraces alternative modes of health and medicine.</p>
<p>However, there is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78527-4">limited evidence</a> of the directly measurable health benefits of Kambô in the peer-reviewed academic literature. The putative benefits claimed by the Kambô community largely remain to be substantiated by clinical research.</p>
<p>The actual or potential health benefits conferred by Kambô treatment can be difficult to distinguish from the anticipated or perceived benefits related to psychological effects. These psychological effects in turn may relate to the belief or faith systems that may be involved.</p>
<p>One important aspect of the Kambô experience is purging, particularly by way of vomiting but also defecation. </p>
<p>Many advocates see purging as representing a means of personal transformation through cleansing or detoxification. Purging may also be thought to expel various harmful, negative or generally undesirable aspects of both an emotional and a spiritual nature.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ayahuasca-the-shamanic-brew-that-produces-out-of-body-experiences-52836">Ayahuasca: the shamanic brew that produces out-of-body experiences</a>
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<p>Participants may also feel a benefit from the overall “ordeal” or “challenge”. In this regard, significant parallels may be drawn between the purging elicited by Kambô and that associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112532">the psychoactive brew ayahuasca</a>.</p>
<p>To understand what people gain from Kambô, we may need to move into the domain of philosophical speculation. However, the concepts of personal transformation and spiritual growth are very real to many adherents, and their role in Kambô’s perceived benefits should not be discounted.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205401/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People have died after taking the banned frog secretion Kambô, and even when things go right there’s a lot of vomiting.Martin Williams, Research fellow, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1970282023-01-31T01:35:24Z2023-01-31T01:35:24ZEnough with the koala cakes – the government’s annual Threatened Species Bake Off seriously neglects fish, plants and other lesser-loved species<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502665/original/file-20221227-43578-xuou5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C1%2C1236%2C692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Overall winner of the 2018 competition, a Growling Grass Frog (_Litoria raniformis_) by EnviroDNA @enviro_DNA</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/enviro_DNA/status/1037103586302287873/photo/1">@enviro_DNA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost 2,000 native species are <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl">officially</a> <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=flora">listed</a> as “threatened” in Australia – but how many have you actually heard of? </p>
<p>Each year, the federal government holds the <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/commissioner/tsbakeoff#:%7E:text=What%20is%20the%20Threatened%20Species,remarkable%20and%20unique%20threatened%20wildlife.">Threatened Species Bake Off</a>, a social media competition where entrants represent a threatened species in cake form. It aims to build awareness of Australia’s vast diversity of wildlife facing extinction – but our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aec.13288">new research</a> found a serious problem with bias towards cute and cuddly animals. </p>
<p>We trawled over 700 entries between 2017 and 2021, and found koalas, echidnas, and wombats consistently depicted. These are the typical poster children of conservation. </p>
<p>Koalas, for example, are frequently allocated <a href="https://www.koala.nsw.gov.au/koala-habitat-conservation">large sums of money for conservation</a>. Compare this to many lesser known, more impactful and at-risk species including the <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2014/09/australias-keystone-endangered-species/">grey nurse shark</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/species-with-a-large-impact-on-community-13240710/">foundation species</a> such as seaweeds. </p>
<p>Australia is a world leader <a href="https://theconversation.com/gut-wrenching-and-infuriating-why-australia-is-the-world-leader-in-mammal-extinctions-and-what-to-do-about-it-192173">in extinctions</a> and, indeed, many at-risk plants and animals aren’t even on the official threatened species list, but should be. While the bake off is well-intentioned, our results highlight a massive gap in conservation messaging. </p>
<p>Unless we build the profile of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/am-i-not-pretty-enough-106740">lesser-loved</a> plants, invertebrates, frogs and fish, we’ll certainly see more species vanish. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1435470730150379521"}"></div></p>
<h2>What species do people like to bake?</h2>
<p>The Threatened Species Bake off begins on September 7, when Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter get flooded with photos of baked goods with elaborate animal or plant designs. Since its inception in 2017, the competition has become increasingly popular and has even garnered celebrity judges including Dawn French, Costa Georgiadis and Kat Sabbath. </p>
<p>It reflects the urgent need to explore creative and novel ways to engage with diverse audiences about Australia’s extinction crisis. But whether it can actually makes a difference to wildlife depends on what people choose to depict. </p>
<p>The charts below show the top ten most popular species baked in the Threatened Species Bake Off on Instagram and Twitter since 2017. Birds and mammals have proven most popular – koalas, echidnas, orange-bellied parrots and other iconic species come out on top. The corroboree frog is the exception to this trend, topping popularity on Twitter and in the top five on Instagram.</p>
<figure class="align-middle ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505726/original/file-20230122-41040-psvclr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505726/original/file-20230122-41040-psvclr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505726/original/file-20230122-41040-psvclr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505726/original/file-20230122-41040-psvclr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505726/original/file-20230122-41040-psvclr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505726/original/file-20230122-41040-psvclr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505726/original/file-20230122-41040-psvclr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The top ten most popular species baked in the Threatened Species Bake Off on Instagram.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505820/original/file-20230123-12-p65rcm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505820/original/file-20230123-12-p65rcm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505820/original/file-20230123-12-p65rcm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505820/original/file-20230123-12-p65rcm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505820/original/file-20230123-12-p65rcm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505820/original/file-20230123-12-p65rcm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505820/original/file-20230123-12-p65rcm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Top ten species baked on Twitter in the Threatened Species Bake Off.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of the nearly 2,000 species listed as threatened by the federal government are plants – <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=flora">1,411 plants </a> compared to 562 animals. But very few contestants depict plants in the Threatened Species Bake Off. Just 3% of the listed threatened plants have been depicted, compared to 40% of the listed mammals and 30% of the listed birds.</p>
<p>This highlights a global issue with “<a href="https://theconversation.com/plant-blindness-is-obscuring-the-extinction-crisis-for-non-animal-species-118208">plant blindness</a>” – a phenomenon where plants are frequently forgotten when considering the nature in an area, leading to <a href="https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/plant-blindness-conservation-implications#:%7E:text=Plant%20blindness%2C%20not%20surprisingly%2C%20results,illegal%20trade%20and%20plant%20conservation.">limited interest and funding</a> for their conservation. </p>
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<p>In fact, many of the species in the Albanese government’s 2022-2032 <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/publications/priority-species">Threatened Species Action Plan</a> are birds and mammals – <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320716309302">species considered much more charismatic</a> than a plant or invertebrate. The action plan includes 14% of threatened mammals and 13% of threatened birds – and just 2% of threatened plants. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gut-wrenching-and-infuriating-why-australia-is-the-world-leader-in-mammal-extinctions-and-what-to-do-about-it-192173">'Gut-wrenching and infuriating': why Australia is the world leader in mammal extinctions, and what to do about it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What the bake off revealed about conservation gaps</h2>
<p>This brings us to Australia’s invertebrates – the bedrock of ecosystems. We found 50% of invertebrates on the official threatened species list were featured in bake offs (that’s 34 of 68 listed species). </p>
<p>This prevalence, however, is misleading. It masks one of the most significant deficiencies in threatened species management: the lack of invertebrates <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aen.12324">on threatened species lists</a>. In fact, invertebrates are simply <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl">classified as</a> “other animals” under Australia’s threatened species legislation.</p>
<p>Their relative absence from lists of protected groups highlights two major gaps in our knowledge: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>many invertebrates are yet to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-so-many-australian-species-are-yet-to-be-named-59237">scientifically described and named</a> – the key entry point to being included on these lists</p></li>
<li><p>we know very little about most invertebrates that have been scientifically described and named – we know only where they were found.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>To adequately conserve Australia’s biodiversity, we need to urgently prioritise research on such <a href="https://theconversation.com/they-might-not-have-a-spine-but-invertebrates-are-the-backbone-of-our-ecosystems-lets-help-them-out-193447">crucial animals</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/they-might-not-have-a-spine-but-invertebrates-are-the-backbone-of-our-ecosystems-lets-help-them-out-193447">They might not have a spine, but invertebrates are the backbone of our ecosystems. Let's help them out</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Social media can help and hamper conservation</h2>
<p>The bake off’s popularity shows social media can be powerful conservation messaging tool. But promoting conservation via social media <a href="https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2021-0112#box1">walks a fine line between protecting and endangering</a> threatened species.</p>
<p>For example, a social media post of a scenic location inhabited by threatened species may drive increased tourism to the location, adding more pressure to the species and its habitat. Indeed, a study in 2019 drew potential links between the rise in videos posted to YouTube of otters as pets with an increase in <a href="https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/33842/">illegal otter trade</a>.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, the use of social media has led to great success in controlling populations of the invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean. </p>
<p>To reduce populations, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has held <a href="https://fwcreefrangers.com/about/lionfish-festival/">fishing tournaments</a> since 2014, advertising via social media. The event has evolved into a multi-day festival with art booths, lionfish tastings, and filet demonstration.</p>
<p>What these examples and the bake off shows is the need for a tailored approach for each conservation message. </p>
<p>But so far, the conservation message of the bake off is not clear given people have baked species that aren’t even listed as threatened such as the platypus, brolga, and Mount Lewis spiny crawfish, as well as species that aren’t even Australian, such as tigers and pandas. </p>
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<h2>Try something different this bake off</h2>
<p>We need to find ways to ensure all species, not just koalas, are on the receiving end of conservation action. Here are some ways we can encourage this.</p>
<p>First is to increase their visibility by providing images of threatened species. For example, researchers and nature enthusiasts could make their images free to use on websites such as <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Wikimedia Commons</a>. Or, they could upload images to <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a> or <a href="https://www.ala.org.au/">Atlas of Living Australia</a>, two websites that catalogue the sightings of species submitted by researchers and the public. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1302581707644661767"}"></div></p>
<p>Giving newly discovered species <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-superheroes-to-the-clitoris-5-scientists-tell-the-stories-behind-these-species-names-142922">interesting</a> or <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2014/03/funniest-species-names/">funny</a> names can also create emotional connections, encouraging people to care more about them – like the Amazonian <em>Agra</em> beetle species, which include names such as <em>Agra vation</em> and <em>Agra cadabra</em>, or the Australian wasp species <em>Aha ha</em>.</p>
<p>Previous bake offs have incorporated themes including “species I’ve seen” and “ecosystem engineers”. Organisers should introduce a new theme: “species I’ve never heard of”, or “the species under my feet”.</p>
<p>So next bake off, how about baking a <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?showprofile=Y&taxon_id=64939">small-flowered snottygobble </a>, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/17/assassin-spider-that-was-feared-extinct-after-bushfires-discovered-on-kangaroo-island">Kangaroo Island Assassin Spider</a>, a <a href="https://handfish.org.au/species-overview/">red handfish</a>, or a <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/species-protection/what-current/endangered-species2/cauliflower-soft-coral#:%7E:text=Cauliflower%20Soft%20Coral%20is%20a,Hawksbury%20River%2C%20New%20South%20Wales.">cauliflower soft coral</a>?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-superheroes-to-the-clitoris-5-scientists-tell-the-stories-behind-these-species-names-142922">From superheroes to the clitoris: 5 scientists tell the stories behind these species names</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197028/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eliza Middleton received funding from The Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlyn Forster works for Invertebrates Australia. She received funding from the Australian Research Council and is affiliated with the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dieter Hochuli receives funding from the Australian Research Council, NSW Department of Planning and Environment, the City of Sydney and the Inner West Council.</span></em></p>Our research looked at data from the government’s annual baking competition. Upon close analysis, we find a dangerous lack of diversity and biases towards cute, cuddly mammals.Eliza Middleton, Biodiversity Management Officer, University of SydneyCaitlyn Forster, Associate Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneyDieter Hochuli, Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1942312022-12-16T19:21:22Z2022-12-16T19:21:22Z‘Vaccinating’ frogs may or may not protect them against a pandemic – but it does provide another option for conservation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501430/original/file-20221215-22-xp9m5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C850&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">California red-legged frogs are threatened with extinction.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/4KnwCD">KQED QUEST/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged, many <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qnBAFpMAAAAJ&hl=en">wildlife disease researchers like me</a> were not too surprised. Some were intrigued it hadn’t happened sooner; after all, it is our job to observe, describe and study pandemic dynamics in animals.</p>
<p>Amphibians, for example, have been undergoing a global panzootic – the animal version of a pandemic – for decades. In the late 1990s, researchers identified the <a href="https://www.amphibianark.org/the-crisis/chytrid-fungus/">amphibian chytrid fungus</a>, which causes the often-lethal disease <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.15.9031">chytridiomycosis</a>, as the probable culprit behind frog and salamander declines and extinctions from <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/news-and-media/media-releases/these-frogs-need-our-help-scientists-name-the-australian-frogs-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-four-likely-already-lost">Australia</a> to <a href="https://www.americanscientist.org/article/lessons-of-the-lost">Central America</a> and elsewhere that began 10, 20 or even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3468">30 years before</a>.</p>
<p>Scientists have found this pathogen on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26645573_Fisher_MC_Garner_TWJ_Walker_SF_Global_emergence_of_Batrachochytrium_dendrobatidis_and_amphibian_Chytridiomycosis_in_space_time_and_host_Ann_Rev_Microbiol_63_291-310">every continent that amphibians inhabit</a>, and the extensive <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/94283/mec5710.pdf;jsessionid=4E641E9F7DC2CEBA5C05B6777315B37A?sequence=1">global amphibian trade</a> has likely spread highly lethal strains around the world. The amphibian chytrid fungus is widespread in some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222718">geographic regions</a>, and, like the virus that causes COVID-19, it can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.115.021808">mutate rapidly</a> and take new forms that cause varying disease severity.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WpOl_yc8n6Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Many amphibians are disappearing around the world.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/species-reintroductions-and-other-conservation-translocations">Conservation translocation</a> is an increasingly popular way to recover species that have experienced extensive population declines. It involves moving organisms to reestablish populations that have gone extinct, supplement existing ones or establish new ones in areas where the species was not previously present. However, when the amphibian chytrid fungus is prevalent in the landscape, frogs are likely to get sick again, hampering the success of translocation.</p>
<p>To avoid the setbacks of disease, researchers are <a href="https://ucnrs.org/inoculating-frogs-against-an-amphibian-pandemic/">using a tool</a> often employed against human pandemics: <a href="https://www.kqed.org/science/959844/can-a-new-vaccine-stem-the-frog-apocalypse">inoculations akin to vaccines</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4294">our recent study</a>, my research team and I inoculated threatened <a href="https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/2891">California red-legged frogs</a> against chytrid fungus before translocation by exposing them to the chytrid fungus in the laboratory. We wanted to see if we could activate their immune systems and give them an advantage over the fungus once they are released. Our results were unexpected.</p>
<h2>Nothing a cocktail won’t cure</h2>
<p>Since 2017, Yosemite National Park has been actively translocating California red-legged frogs to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/news/threatened-california-red-legged-frogs-making-a-comeback-in-yosemite-national-park-after-a-50-year-absence.htm">Yosemite Valley</a>, where the chytrid fungus is already present. We used a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4294">small subset</a> of these translocated frogs in our study.</p>
<p>We collected wild frog eggs at a place where the species is thriving, about 100 miles northwest of Yosemite Valley, then raised them in captivity at the San Francisco Zoo. Once they metamorphosed into juvenile frogs, we bathed 20 in a “cocktail” of four live, active strains of the fungus. After three weeks, they were given a bath of an antifungal drug to halt the infection. Another 40 frogs that were not exposed to the fungus were also given a bath of an antifungal drug. </p>
<p>Then we reexposed the 20 previously infected frogs to the fungus a second time, while 20 previously uninfected frogs were exposed to the fungus for the first time. We wanted to see how frogs with a second infection – namely, those that were “vaccinated” – compared with those that were infected only once.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Scanning electron micrograph of chytrid fungus" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501438/original/file-20221215-15-uz70p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The chytrid fungus has devastated frog populations globally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/1392">Alex Hyatt/CSIRO</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What we found was surprising: 35% of frogs infected only once successfully cleared the infection without vaccination or an antifungal drug. This suggested that they have some measure of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26846/">innate immunity</a>, meaning their immune system’s first line of defense was able to fight off the fungus. In addition, frogs infected a second time had a 31% overall lower rate of infection than those that were infected only once. This suggested that the vaccinelike treatment also works by stimulating <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21070/">adaptive immunity</a>, meaning their immune system learned to recognize the fungus from their first exposure and fight it off more efficiently. None of the frogs died from their fungal infections.</p>
<p>Before releasing them to the wild, we treated the frogs with an antifungal drug and monitored to make sure they were disease-free. We attached tiny transmitters with beaded belts around their waists so we could track their infections and survival over three months.</p>
<p>Unexpectedly, we found no difference in disease burden between the frogs that had never been infected and those that had been previously infected in the laboratory. This suggests that immunizing this species for chytrid fungus, at least in Yosemite, may be unnecessary to ensure their survival after reintroduction.</p>
<p>Indeed, the California red-legged frogs released into Yosemite Valley are thriving three years after our experiment and six years after their first translocation. They are hibernating successfully through the cold winters and emerging early in the spring for reproduction.</p>
<h2>Hope for the future</h2>
<p>Our study takes a new approach to the emerging tool of inoculation against the chytrid fungus. By combining ex situ, or laboratory, experiments with in situ, or in the field, implementation, we put lab observations to the test in the real world. This type of work strengthens collaborations between wildlife managers and zoos, which are increasingly needed as the <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/">biodiversity crisis accelerates</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="California red-legged frog floating in grassy water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501435/original/file-20221215-17-59fogl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Preservation efforts for the California red-legged frogs are in progress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/aw8gBV">Greg Schechter/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Though California red-legged frogs in Yosemite Valley didn’t seem to need vaccinations, this doesn’t mean that other imperiled amphibian species around the world do not. Research on chytrid inoculations in other species have had mixed results, ranging from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093356">not improving survival</a> to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25008531/">reducing infection burden</a> associated with increased survival. One of the primary challenges of this approach to conservation is that even if vaccination increases survival after initial release, this immunity does not carry forward to successive generations.</p>
<p>There is hope, however. Researchers are working to identify the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12459">genetic signatures associated with immunity</a> to the chytrid fungus. If successful, breeding programs can artificially select for – and perhaps even <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534721003384">gene-edit</a> – protective traits to give frogs a leg up on a pathogen that has devastated amphibian populations worldwide.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194231/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Adams previously received funding from the Yosemite Conservancy for conducting this research as a postdoctoral researcher at Yosemite National Park. Funding for her current academic appointment is received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.</span></em></p>Amphibians have been devastated by a chytrid fungus pandemic. Researchers immunized California red-legged frogs in Yosemite to give them a fighting chance at survival, with surprising results.Andrea J. Adams, Researcher in Ecology, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1926312022-11-08T19:39:46Z2022-11-08T19:39:46ZGliding treefrogs, mini-males and burrowing frogs in trees: why Melanesia is the world’s tropical island frog hotspot<p>A chocolate treefrog that <a href="https://blog.qm.qld.gov.au/2021/05/28/sweet-new-discovery-a-new-species-of-chocolate-frog/">looks like</a> a Freddo. Burrowing frogs which live in trees. Long-nosed frogs named after Pinocchio. Frogs which go straight from egg to froglet without stopping at tadpole. And large treefrogs which can glide from tree to tree. </p>
<p>All these and many more are found only in Melanesia. This tiny region in the South Pacific is a global hotspot of <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2100096118">cultural</a> and biological diversity. And we still don’t know the full extent of its <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2549-5">extreme biological riches</a>. </p>
<p>Centred on the world’s largest tropical island, New Guinea, Melanesia is home to 534 types of frog. As our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-04105-1">new research</a> shows, that’s 7% of all the world’s frog species living on just 0.7% of the world’s land. And there are more to come. Almost 40% of these frogs have only been scientifically described in the last two decades. </p>
<p>Hundreds more species will likely be added to the tally, as we know of at least 190 species not yet formally described. The final tally will be over 700, with frogs colonising every possible niche. But their sheer evolutionary inventiveness also puts them at risk, with many species restricted to tiny ranges. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491196/original/file-20221023-64871-jtcdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491196/original/file-20221023-64871-jtcdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491196/original/file-20221023-64871-jtcdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491196/original/file-20221023-64871-jtcdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491196/original/file-20221023-64871-jtcdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491196/original/file-20221023-64871-jtcdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491196/original/file-20221023-64871-jtcdj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Litoria pinnochio</em> is just one of over 200 species of Melanesian frog first documented in the last 20 years. Males of this species have an erectile spike at the tip of their snout.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Laman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Winged fingers, erectile noses and tiny males</h2>
<p>Melanesia’s wealth of frog species easily surpasses other tropical island regions, including famed hotspots such as Madagascar (around 370 species), Borneo and the Caribbean (both around 200). </p>
<p>On these islands live more than double Australia’s tally of around <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-name-the-26-australian-frogs-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-by-2040-and-how-to-save-them-166339">248 species</a>. </p>
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<p>Species diversity goes hand-in-hand with weird and wonderful evolutionary twists.</p>
<p>Take the narrow-mouthed frogs, which skip the tadpole stage and hatch directly from egg to frog. In this family, <em>Microhylidae</em>, is the likely ancestor of most of the region’s frog species after migrating from Asia around 20 million years ago. These frogs were spectacularly successful, calving off an estimated 400 species. </p>
<p>Their tally include some of the world’s smallest <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/new-frog-trumps-miniscule-fish-for-title-of-worlds-smallest-vertebrate/">creatures with a backbone</a>, as well as many burrowing frogs which abandoned the ground to live in trees, and others with <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00007.x">complex parental care</a>, such as the father frog guarding his eggs and tadpoles, or carrying babies on his back. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491194/original/file-20221023-62695-sfuhxd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491194/original/file-20221023-62695-sfuhxd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491194/original/file-20221023-62695-sfuhxd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491194/original/file-20221023-62695-sfuhxd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491194/original/file-20221023-62695-sfuhxd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491194/original/file-20221023-62695-sfuhxd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491194/original/file-20221023-62695-sfuhxd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In New Guinea multiple lineage of frogs have independently evolved very tiny size. Pictured is <em>Choerophryne gracilirostris</em>, described in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The treefrogs are numerous too, with an estimated 200 species. Large green treefrog species have evolved finger webbing so they <a href="https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d774e3063544d35457a6333566d54/index.html">can glide</a> to a lower branch. Other treefrogs have <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-newly-named-long-nosed-pinocchio-frog-180972385">odd nose spikes</a>. And of course, the recently described chocolate treefrog has drawn worldwide attention (and amusement) for its resemblance to a certain confectionery. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491488/original/file-20221024-17346-4sn3xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491488/original/file-20221024-17346-4sn3xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491488/original/file-20221024-17346-4sn3xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491488/original/file-20221024-17346-4sn3xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491488/original/file-20221024-17346-4sn3xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491488/original/file-20221024-17346-4sn3xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491488/original/file-20221024-17346-4sn3xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Litoria mira</em> bears a strong resemblance to a popular kid’s sweet, hence the common name Chocolate Treefrog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other islands have their own unique frogs. On the Papua New Guinean (PNG) island of New Britain lives Boulenger’s wrinkled ground frog (<em>Cornufer boulengeri</em>), a species whose males are 40 times lighter than females. For many years, scientists didn’t realise the males and females were <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-herpetology/volume-42/issue-4/07-238Rl.1/Remarkable-Case-of-Anuran-Sexual-Size-Dimorphism--Platymantis-rhipiphalcus/10.1670/07-238Rl.1.short">the same species</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-frogs-are-dying-en-masse-again-and-we-need-your-help-to-find-out-why-184255">Australian frogs are dying en masse again, and we need your help to find out why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why so many frogs?</h2>
<p>Melanesia’s many islands have fertile soil and often have extraordinarily varied landscapes. New Guinea, for instance, goes from sea level to highlands and mountains almost five kilometres high, with a few peaks still holding their last ice. </p>
<p>This is a key reason for frog diversity. Why? Because populations can easily become isolated, which speeds up the development of new species. New Guinea, for instance, is one of the world’s <a href="https://www.undp.org/papua-new-guinea/press-releases/first-national-and-independent-biodiversity-and-climate-fund-launched">megadiverse hotspots</a>, containing an estimated 7% of the world’s species on a fraction of the land area. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491197/original/file-20221023-56557-48ojv5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491197/original/file-20221023-56557-48ojv5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491197/original/file-20221023-56557-48ojv5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491197/original/file-20221023-56557-48ojv5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491197/original/file-20221023-56557-48ojv5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491197/original/file-20221023-56557-48ojv5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491197/original/file-20221023-56557-48ojv5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Complex landscapes increases the chance populations will become isolated and ultimately evolve into separate species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also suspect the arrival of the direct-developing frog family have further supercharged species diversity in Melanesian frogs.</p>
<p>These frogs don’t have free-living tadpoles able to be dispersed by floods or along streams. This stay-at-home disposition may increase their chances of becoming isolated and evolving into distinct species. </p>
<p>Our research found direct-developing frogs in Melanesia <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-04105-1">have narrower ranges</a> than their more conventional relatives. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491191/original/file-20221023-22-e0glw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491191/original/file-20221023-22-e0glw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491191/original/file-20221023-22-e0glw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491191/original/file-20221023-22-e0glw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491191/original/file-20221023-22-e0glw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491191/original/file-20221023-22-e0glw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491191/original/file-20221023-22-e0glw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frogs without a free-living tapdole stage tend to have restricted ranges. Shown here is <em>Oreophryne oviprotector</em>, described in 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In fact, the <a href="https://pipap.sprep.org/content/herpetofauna-dramatic-endemism-signals-overlooked-biodiversity-hotspot">easternmost tip</a> of New Guinea and nearby islands have the most extreme concentration of vertebrates with small ranges anywhere in the world, with more than 160 species jammed into an area less than a quarter of the size of Tasmania. </p>
<h2>Melanesia is a good place to be a frog – but threats are arriving</h2>
<p>The world’s frogs are <a href="https://amphibiaweb.org/declines/conservation.html">in trouble</a>. Hundreds of species have gone extinct in recent decades. </p>
<p>But Melanesia, for now, is a good news story. We know of no frog extinction events and only 6% of species are threatened, compared to a global average of <a href="https://www.froglife.org/2020/11/29/croaking-science-how-many-amphibian-species-are-there-how-do-we-know-and-how-many-are-threatened-with-extinction/">over 30%</a>).</p>
<p>This could change if a <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-fungus-threatens-to-wipe-out-100-frog-species-heres-how-it-can-be-stopped-117842">lethal fungus</a> takes hold. So far, Melanesia has stayed clear of it. Biosecurity measures are essential to conserve this bounty of frogs. </p>
<p>Because so many of Melanesia’s frogs have tiny ranges, they are particularly vulnerable to changes, such as the loss of a small area of forest. Climate change will pose an <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiny-frogs-face-a-troubled-future-in-new-guineas-tropical-mountains-75210">existential threat</a>, particularly to frogs dependent on cold climates in the mountains. </p>
<p>PNG’s eastern biodiversity hotspot around Milne Bay is most at risk. Six species are threatened here by forest loss, while plans for oil palm plantations threaten <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/land-grab-logging-mining-threaten-biodiversity-haven-of-woodlark-island/">many frog species</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491198/original/file-20221023-26-qokeul.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491198/original/file-20221023-26-qokeul.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491198/original/file-20221023-26-qokeul.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491198/original/file-20221023-26-qokeul.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491198/original/file-20221023-26-qokeul.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491198/original/file-20221023-26-qokeul.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491198/original/file-20221023-26-qokeul.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forest loss around Mt Simpson near Milne Bay threatens at least six recently described frog species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fred Kraus</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We hope documenting Melanesia’s wealth of frogs and other species will help conservation efforts. This region is special. Let’s keep it that way. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-fungus-threatens-to-wipe-out-100-frog-species-heres-how-it-can-be-stopped-117842">A deadly fungus threatens to wipe out 100 frog species – here's how it can be stopped</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Oliver receives funding from the Australia Pacific Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Bower works for the University of New England.</span></em></p>Melanesia’s tropical islands are home to at least 700 species of frogs – many with tiny ranges. We must safeguard these biological treasures.Paul Oliver, Senior Lecturer, Griffith UniversityDeborah Bower, Lecturer in Ecosystem Rehabilitation, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1933752022-10-27T10:45:38Z2022-10-27T10:45:38ZFrom radiation to water pollution to cities, humans are now a driver of evolution in the ‘natural’ world – podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491988/original/file-20221026-17-zeh1io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=116%2C116%2C5874%2C3826&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For many species, human actions are the biggest factor in their evolution.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/parallel-world-royalty-free-image/1342327251?phrase=industry%20vs%20nature&adppopup=true">Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans do a lot of different things to the environment, and there aren’t many natural processes – aside from an asteroid impact or the like – that can rival the scale of change brought on by human activity. In this episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast, we speak to three experts who study different ways that people are affecting how plants and animals evolve – and how humanity has become the single biggest driver of evolutionary changes on Earth. </p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/635915e71fc1700013adadc8" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The war in Ukraine has raised the specter of nuclear disaster – either through the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/world/europe/russia-putin-nuclear-threat.html">intentional use of weapons</a> or the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/world/europe/ukraine-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-power.html">accidental meltdown of a nuclear power plant</a> – once again. Ukraine, unfortunately, is no stranger to the risks of splitting atoms. The 1986 meltdown of the Chernobyl power plant was the biggest nuclear accident in history, and its legacy is seen in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. People essentially abandoned the area for decades, leaving nature to reclaim the land around Chernobyl.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8vE70D0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Germán Orizaola</a> is a biologist at the University of Oviedo in Spain who studies frogs in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. One of the species Orizaola was looking for is called the eastern tree frog and is usually bright green. “I was alone in the ponds, listening to those males calling, and I didn’t find any. I wasn’t able to detect one until I realized that that green frog that I was looking for wasn’t green. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13476">It was black</a>. Absolutely black,” he says.</p>
<p>Other than turning from green to black, the frogs were completely healthy. But the decades of exposure to radiation left over from the accident had <a href="https://theconversation.com/chernobyl-black-frogs-reveal-evolution-in-action-191034">led to a dramatic and rapid evolutionary change in the frogs</a> – a change entirely driven by human actions. As Orizaolo explained, “As soon as humans are in the environment, the amount of pressure we put on the environment – radiation, pesticides, noise or changes in temperature – are so extreme and so fast that they also induce extremely fast evolutionary responses.”</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=S9C9C8QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Andrew Whitehead</a>, an environmental toxicologist at the University of California, Davis in the U.S. is intimately familiar with another striking example of how humans can drive rapid evolution in animals. In particular, he looks at a little fish called the killifish. “There are populations living in these radically human-altered estuaries, and these are environments that should be lethal to them,” he explains. Certain estuaries in the U.S. are full of chemical pollution, yet the fish are thriving. As Whitehead says, “Killifish from those sites are resistant to up to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04829.x">8,000 times the normally lethal concentration</a> of these chemicals.”</p>
<p>Whitehead explained that the killifish, due to equal parts luck and a large bank of genetic diversity thanks to huge population numbers, were able to quickly adapt to the polluted estuaries. Given the choice of evolve or die, the fish evolved. But, as Whitehead noted, “A lot of people respond to the killifish story as this sort of uplifting story where evolution wins out against all odds. But I think that this is more appropriately interpreted as a cautionary story.” While some species can adapt to the changed brought on by modern society, most can’t. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fNPkvLwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Marc Johnson</a>, a biologist at the University of Toronto in Canada, is one of the world’s leading researchers studying the relationship between human actions – urbanization in particular – and the evolution of plants, animals and fungi. “Life on Earth has never experienced environments like cities in its 4 billion year history,” says Johnson. “It really seems that today, the major driver of evolution is human. And we do not understand this nearly well enough.”</p>
<p>No one can change how evolution works, but one thing people can control is how we build our cities, deal with our waste or produce our power. Researchers like Johnson hope that figuring out how evolution and human actions interact will help inform decisions that can give plants and animals a better chance at adapting to a changing world. </p>
<p>Listen to the full episode to find out more.</p>
<p>This episode was produced by Daniel Merino and Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer was Gemma Ware. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. The sound of tree frogs in this episode is via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mp4cmmda9M">serkan gul</a>. </p>
<p>You can find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>. A transcript of this episode is <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2485/Radiation_Final_Transcript.pdf?1671458244">available here</a>. </p>
<p>Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a>, or find out <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">how else to listen here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193375/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>
Marc Johnson receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, the National Science Foundation and the Canada Research Chair. He previously had a New Phytologist workshop grant. He is currently the director of the Centre for Urban Environments and director of a board for The Riverwood Conservancy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Germán Orizaola receives funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the "Ramón y Cajal" Programme (RyC-2016-20656), the British Ecological Society (SR20-1169) and the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (SUBV/29-2021).
Andrew Whitehead receives funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>In this week’s episode of The Conversation Weekly, we speak with three scientists who study the ways plants and animals evolve in a world dominated by humans.Daniel Merino, Associate Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationGemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1894912022-10-03T19:03:14Z2022-10-03T19:03:14ZA deadly disease has driven 7 Australian frogs to extinction – but this endangered frog is fighting back<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487669/original/file-20221003-12-dqn1my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2991%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Environmental scientists see flora, fauna and phenomena the rest of us rarely do. In this series, we’ve invited them to share their unique <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/photos-from-the-field-92499">photos from the field</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Frogs are among the world’s most imperilled animals, and much of the blame lies with a deadly frog disease called the amphibian chytrid fungus. The chytrid fungus has caused populations of over <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aav0379">500 frog species worldwide</a> to plummet, and rendered seven Australian frogs extinct. </p>
<p>Our new <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2724">research</a>, however, has identified an endangered frog species that seems to have developed a natural resistance to the disease, after having previously succumbed to it in prior decades: Fleay’s barred frog (<em>Mixophyes fleayi</em>). </p>
<p>Fleay’s barred frog grows up to 9 centimetres long, and lives near gravelly streams in the rainforests of northern New South Wales and southeast Queensland. It is not the only frog species largely resistant to the disease, with a precious few others also <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-our-frogs-bouncing-back-12789">known to survive it</a>, such as common mistfrogs and cascade treefrogs.</p>
<p>We speculate that other frog species worldwide may be on a similar trajectory. There is currently no cure for the chytrid fungus, but understanding how Fleay’s barred frog and others are fighting back may prove instrumental in helping us bring more species back from the brink. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487671/original/file-20221003-3041-85p6sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A stream in a northern NSW rainforest, a typical habitat of the Fleay’s barred frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-name-the-26-australian-frogs-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-by-2040-and-how-to-save-them-166339">We name the 26 Australian frogs at greatest risk of extinction by 2040 — and how to save them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>The killer fungus</h2>
<p>The amphibian chytrid fungus (<em>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</em>) causes a skin disease and breached Australian borders in the 1970s. Since then, the disease has caused populations of <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aav0379">dozens of species to severely decline</a>, and has driven seven to extinction, including the gastric brooding frogs and southern day frogs.</p>
<p>It wasn’t <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.95.15.9031">until 1998</a> that two independent research teams <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/104063879901100219">discovered</a> the fungal pathogen was to blame. This unfortunately meant much of the damage was already done prior to its discovery.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487695/original/file-20221003-20-tidi6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cascade tree frog (<em>Litoria pearsoniana</em>), another species that initially declined due to chytrid fungus but has since largely recovered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487674/original/file-20221003-27633-u5assu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This photo shows a cascade treefrog on top of a red-eyed treefrog (<em>Litoria chloris</em>) and shows a potential mode of disease transmission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, Fleay’s barred frog wasn’t distinguished as being a separate species of barred frog before the chytrid fungus caused its <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/169471">populations to decline</a> across its range in the 1980s. It became extinct in at least three places it once lived.</p>
<p>But our research suggests the Fleay’s barred frog is bouncing back. Over four years, we conducted intensive field research at several rainforest streams in northern New South Wales to investigate the prevalence and intensity of infection within Fleay’s barred frog populations. </p>
<p>We found while some frogs with high-level infections died, most seemed capable of clearing their infections.</p>
<h2>Frogs are fighting back</h2>
<p>Surveys in the late 1990s detected up to 15 Fleay’s barred frogs at the sites we studied. But during our investigations, we regularly found close to 100. Moreover, other researchers have noted that these frogs are relatively common across many rainforest streams, suggesting populations of Fleay’s barred frog have recovered. </p>
<p>We implanted 686 frogs with microchips and tested frogs for the chytrid fungus via a skin swab every time they were captured. This allowed us to follow these frogs over four years to learn about the population’s death rates and infection dynamics. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487673/original/file-20221003-27218-i12ouj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Fleay’s barred frog was once common across the Border Ranges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487696/original/file-20221003-23-dm9pzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Three-toed snake-tooth skink (<em>Coeranoscincus reticulatus</em>), another endangered species living in the Gondwana rainforests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fortunately, male Fleay’s barred frogs don’t travel far from home and are readily recaptured – we located some frogs more than 20 times. </p>
<p>We confirmed the prevalence of the chytrid fungus and the intensity of its infection was influenced by environmental conditions. Specifically, it was greatest with lower temperatures and higher rainfall. </p>
<p>This may help explain why we have witnessed <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-frogs-are-dying-en-masse-again-and-we-need-your-help-to-find-out-why-184255">mass death events</a> in Australian frogs during recent wet winters along the eastern seaboard. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487672/original/file-20221003-19-ew5k3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fleay’s barred frog is also called the silverblue-eyed barred frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition to investigating the deadliness of a chytrid fungus infection, we also estimated the rates with which individuals were gaining and clearing infections.</p>
<p>We found infections were poor predictors of death. Only the highest pathogen loads were associated with an increase in rate of deaths, but frogs were very rarely infected with such high burdens. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-frogs-are-dying-en-masse-again-and-we-need-your-help-to-find-out-why-184255">Australian frogs are dying en masse again, and we need your help to find out why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Instead, frogs were much more likely to clear their infections than to gain them, ultimately leading to a low infection prevalence in the populations. On average, just one in five frogs were likely to be infected at any given time. </p>
<p>For those infected, pathogen loads were among the lowest we observed in rainforest frog communities. Some of the other species, such as the cascade treefrog, stony creek frog and giant barred frog, carried loads that were 30% higher.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487698/original/file-20221003-24-a5mrry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Male stony creek frogs (<em>Litoria wilcoxii</em>) turn bright yellow in the breeding season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthijs Hollanders</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How this could help save frogs</h2>
<p>So why can the frogs now deal with a disease that decimated populations just a few decades ago? This question is unfortunately still <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13621">hard to answer</a>.</p>
<p>Given their low pathogen loads and high rates of clearing them, we believe Fleay’s barred frogs have developed natural resistance against the chytrid fungus, meaning their immune systems are actively combating infections. We further speculate that other species worldwide may be doing the same. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-endangered-species-can-no-longer-survive-in-the-wild-so-should-we-alter-their-genes-175226">promising avenue</a> of conservation <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534721003384">research</a> is to use the genetic information of some species to help others survive threats in the wild, such as disease or climate change. Fleay’s barred frogs may carry just the genes we’re looking for.</p>
<p>We now hope to use these resistant frogs for a reintroduction program in nearby Wollumbin (Mount Warning) in NSW, where the species disappeared from in the 1990s. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320718316070">This approach</a> may help the ecosystem of this iconic World Heritage site to thrive.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/some-endangered-species-can-no-longer-survive-in-the-wild-so-should-we-alter-their-genes-175226">Some endangered species can no longer survive in the wild. So should we alter their genes?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by the NSW government Saving our Species program and an ARC Discovery grant (DP180101415).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Newell receives funding from the Australian Research Council, and the New South Wales governments Saving our Species program </span></em></p>Populations of Fleay’s barred frog in Australia’s ancient rainforests were decimated by the chytrid fungus. Now, the frogs have developed a natural resistance.Matthijs Hollanders, PhD candidate, Southern Cross UniversityDavid Newell, Senior Lecturer, School of Environment, Science & Engineering, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1910342022-09-28T16:51:41Z2022-09-28T16:51:41ZChernobyl black frogs reveal evolution in action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485875/original/file-20220921-24-yiy57l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C2652%2C1761&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Extremes of the colour gradient of the Eastern San Antonio frog (Hyla orientalis). On the left, a specimen captured in Chernobyl inside the high contamination zone; on the right, a specimen captured outside the Exclusion Zone.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Germán Orizaola/Pablo Burraco</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The accident at reactor four of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 generated the largest release of radioactive material into the environment in human history. The impact of the acute exposure to high doses of radiation was severe <a href="https://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/publications/2008_2.html">for the environment and the human population</a>. But more than three decades after the accident, Chernobyl has become one of the largest nature reserves in Europe. <a href="https://theconversation.com/chernobyl-has-become-a-refuge-for-wildlife-33-years-after-the-nuclear-accident-116303">A diverse range of endangered species finds refuge there today</a>, including bears, wolves, and lynxes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485086/original/file-20220916-15-9oryx9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485086/original/file-20220916-15-9oryx9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485086/original/file-20220916-15-9oryx9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485086/original/file-20220916-15-9oryx9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485086/original/file-20220916-15-9oryx9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485086/original/file-20220916-15-9oryx9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485086/original/file-20220916-15-9oryx9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">View of reactor 4 of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant from Lake Azbuchyn (Ukraine), 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Germán Orizaola</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Radiation can damage the genetic material of living organisms and generate undesirable mutations. However, one of the most interesting research topics in Chernobyl is trying to detect if some species are actually adapting to live with radiation. As with other pollutants, radiation could be a very strong selective factor, favouring organisms with mechanisms that increase their survival in areas contaminated with radioactive substances.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485100/original/file-20220916-14-mkmy2s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485100/original/file-20220916-14-mkmy2s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485100/original/file-20220916-14-mkmy2s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485100/original/file-20220916-14-mkmy2s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485100/original/file-20220916-14-mkmy2s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485100/original/file-20220916-14-mkmy2s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485100/original/file-20220916-14-mkmy2s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Contaminated area within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ArcticCynda</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Melanin protection against radiation</h2>
<p>Our work in Chernobyl started in 2016. That year, close to the damaged nuclear reactor, we detected several Eastern tree frogs (<em>Hyla orientalis</em>) with an unusual black tint. The species normally has a bright green dorsal coloration, although occasional darker individuals can be found.</p>
<p>Melanin is responsible for the dark colour of many organisms. What is less known is that this class of pigments can also reduce the negative effects of ultraviolet radiation. And its protective role can extend to ionising radiation too, as it <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369527408001306?via%3Dihub">has been shown with fungi</a>. Melanin absorbs and dissipates part of the radiation energy. In addition, it can scavenge and neutralise ionised molecules inside the cell, such as <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31675-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219316756%3Fshowall%3Dtrue">reactive oxygen species</a>. These actions make it less likely that individuals exposed to radiation will go on to suffer cell damage and increase their survival chances.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485103/original/file-20220916-21-76txih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485103/original/file-20220916-21-76txih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485103/original/file-20220916-21-76txih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485103/original/file-20220916-21-76txih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485103/original/file-20220916-21-76txih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485103/original/file-20220916-21-76txih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485103/original/file-20220916-21-76txih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Male Eastern St. Anthony’s frog (<em>Hyla orientalis</em>) at a location outside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine), 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Germán Orizaola</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The colour of Chernobyl tree frogs</h2>
<p>After detecting the first black frogs in 2016, we decided to study the role of melanin colouration in Chernobyl wildlife. Between 2017 and 2019 we examined in detail the colouration of Eastern tree frogs in different areas of northern Ukraine.</p>
<p>During those three years we analysed the dorsal skin colouration of more than 200 male frogs captured in 12 different breeding ponds. These localities were distributed along a wide gradient of radioactive contamination. They included some of the most radioactive areas on the planet, but also four sites outside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and with background radiation levels used as controls.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eva.13476">Our work</a> reveals that Chernobyl tree frogs have a much darker colouration than frogs captured in control areas outside the zone. As we found out in 2016, some are pitch-black. This colouration is not related to the levels of radiation that frogs experience today and that we can measure in all individuals. The dark colouration is typical of frogs from within or near the most contaminated areas at the time of the accident. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C102%2C3790%2C1445&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C102%2C3790%2C1445&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485081/original/file-20220916-20-4y10mj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colouring gradient of the Eastern St. Anthony’s frog (<em>Hyla orientalis</em>) in northern Ukraine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Germán Orizaola/Pablo Burraco</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Evolutionary responses in Chernobyl</h2>
<p>The results of our study suggest that Chernobyl frogs could have undergone a process of rapid evolution in response to radiation. In this scenario, those frogs with darker colouration at the time of the accident, which normally represent a minority in their populations, would have been favoured by the protective action of melanin.</p>
<p>The dark frogs would have survived the radiation better and reproduced more successfully. More than ten generations of frogs have passed since the accident and a classic, although very fast, process of natural selection may explain why these dark frogs are now the dominant type for the species within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.</p>
<p>The study of the Chernobyl black frogs constitutes a first step to better understanding the protective role of melanin in environments affected by radioactive contamination. In addition, it opens the doors to promising applications in fields as diverse as nuclear waste management and space exploration.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485117/original/file-20220916-8284-mljo8r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485117/original/file-20220916-8284-mljo8r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485117/original/file-20220916-8284-mljo8r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485117/original/file-20220916-8284-mljo8r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485117/original/file-20220916-8284-mljo8r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485117/original/file-20220916-8284-mljo8r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485117/original/file-20220916-8284-mljo8r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Glyboke Lake, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine), 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Germán Orizaola</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We hope the current war in Ukraine will end soon and the international scientific community will be able to return to study, together with our Ukrainian colleagues, the fascinating evolutionary and rewilding processes of Chernobyl ecosystems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191034/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Germán Orizaola receives funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the "Ramón y Cajal" Programme (RyC-2016-20656), the British Ecological Society (SR20-1169) and the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (SUBV/29-2021).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pablo Burraco receives funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Juan de la Cierva Incorporation programme (IJC2020-044680-I) and from the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (Winning Independence project).</span></em></p>Research on Chernobyl frogs has shown that the ionising radiation caused by the accident triggered a process of natural selection among these animals.Germán Orizaola, Investigador Ramón y Cajal, Universidad de OviedoPablo Burraco, Investigador postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva Incorporación, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1885622022-08-22T14:51:34Z2022-08-22T14:51:34ZAncient frogs in mass grave died from too much sex – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480360/original/file-20220822-76732-9t0pw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C6000%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author looking at fossil specimens from the Geiseltal collection in Germany</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Falk</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Frogs once lived alongside dinosaurs. It’s incredible to think these little creatures <a href="https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/03/535383841/how-frogs-benefited-from-the-dinosaurs-extinction#:%7E:text=But%20scientists%20say%20they've,vacuum%20other%20animals%20left%20behind">survived the dinosaurs’ extinction.</a> But a lower level mass death did take place in what is now called the Geiseltal region in central Germany and the cause has long remained a mystery. </p>
<p>Hundreds of frog <a href="https://www.booklooker.de/B%C3%BCcher/Angebote/titel=Das+eoz%C3%A4ne+Geiseltal">fossils</a> were found in a mass grave in Geiseltal’s 45-million-year-old swampy coastlands, and their reason for being there has confounded scientists for decades. But my team’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1453">study</a> found an explanation: they died from exhaustion while mating. </p>
<p>We also found evidence the mating behaviour of modern frogs and toads dates back at least 45 million years as mass grave frog fossils from <a href="https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2010.p10-126r">other sites</a> show similar features on the skeletons as the Geiseltal specimens. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>My Irish-German research team studied the fossil frog skeletons. We palaeontologists took photos, made drawings and analysed the fossils. We checked how many bones were still in place and which bones and joints were still attached. </p>
<p>With this data we were able to reveal what happened to the frog skeletons after their death and to interpret the reason for their death. Our research also found many skeletins in one sediment layer which showed that most of the fossilised frogs died in mass mortality events (recurring events during which many hundreds of frogs died in a short time). </p>
<p>Other scientists thought the Geiseltal frogs and toads died when lakes dried up and oxygen levels <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1453">decreased rapidly</a>. But our research showed this was unlikely as the frogs could have easily made their way to nearby water bodies. We also found evidence the frog carcasses floated in the water for some time before they sank to the lake bottom. So the lake didn’t dry out. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1204&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1204&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1204&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ancient Geiseltal frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Falk</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our comparisons of Geiseltal skeletons with modern frogs revealed most Geiseltal frogs were actually toads. Toads follow a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1564675?origin=crossref#metadata_info_tab_contents">land based lifestyle</a>, except when they return to ponds to mate. They mated with numerous other toads during the very short mating season which, in some <a href="https://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12898-019-0243-y">modern tropical species</a>, lasts for just hours. </p>
<p>Sex can be a death trap for modern toad and frog species. Individuals are regularly overcome by exhaustion and drown. Female frogs and toads are at higher risk of drowning as they are often submerged underwater by one or more males. Even today, mass toad graves are found on migration routes and near or in mating ponds. This was likely to be the same situation for the Geiseltal specimens. </p>
<p>The carcasses were moved by light currents in the swampy lakes and sank to the bottom in the cold, deep, and undisturbed regions of the lake. The cold temperatures (probably about 8°C) prevented decay and kept many skeletons in good condition. In some skeletons even small bones such as finger bones or toe bones are still well defined. </p>
<p>Some frogs may have <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/31/23/jcli-d-18-0129.1.xml?tab_body=abstract-display">frozen to death,</a> died from diseases or from old age. That’s information the frogs took to the grave with them as these three causes of death are difficult to verify. But after months of studying these fossils and analysing what we know about their lifestyles my team came to an astonishing conclusion. </p>
<p>The most likely explanation for why there are several groups of frogs, each numbering in the hundreds, that died almost at the same time in different ponds, is that their enthusiastic mating killed them. It explains why similar mass graves have been found in different parts of the world. </p>
<p>The German <a href="https://www.naturkundemuseum.uni-halle.de/sammlungen/geiseltal_sammlung/">Geiseltal fossil collection</a> was closed for decades but recently reopened to the public and scientists. It is an incredible time capsule of over 50,000 fossils from a former lignite (brown coal) opencast mine in the Geiseltal. </p>
<p>The fossils include crocodiles, huge snakes, flightless giant birds and dog-sized primeval horses. Many of the Geiseltal fossils are so well preserved they show remarkable details including bones, scales, skin, internal organs and gut contents. </p>
<p>The mine was flooded to create a recreational area in the early 2000s and is a giant lake now. </p>
<h2>Don’t take frogs for granted</h2>
<p>While these mating deaths sound extreme, a far more common cause of frog and toad mortality is humans destroying their homes, polluting water sources and spreading disease. </p>
<p>Frogs and toads survived several climate changes and extinction events on earth. However, some species have gone extinct. In 2021 one of the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2021/may/extinction-of-frog-is-a-huge-blow-to-the-diversity-of-life.html">few remaining frog species</a> of an ancient lineage of amphibians was declared likely extinct, having not been seen in 60 years. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://ipbes.net/">2019 UN report</a> showed amphibians, particularly frogs, are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/frogs-amphibians-dying-6th-mass-extinction-photos-2019-6?r=US&IR=T">among the hardest hit</a> by the nature crisis. Frogs can migrate short distances if environmental conditions in their pond change. But they are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/16/disease-causing-mass-deaths-frogs-reaches-britain-aoe">vulnerable to disease</a>, which can be <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aav0379">driven by human impacts on nature</a>. </p>
<p>Frogs and toads live nearly everywhere including on <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Amphibians/Tree-Frogs">trees</a>, <a href="https://naturebackin.com/2017/02/16/against-the-odds-finding-tree-frogs-in-flowers/">in flowers</a>, in the jungle and <a href="https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/articles/meet-frogs-live-desert">in the desert</a>. Some look almost as colourful as a rainbow and others <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/facts/wallaces-flying-frog">can even fly</a>. Imagine these creatures <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1704632114">feeding next to a T-Rex</a>. It would be a tragedy if we lost any more species.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Falk receives funding from the Government of Ireland-Irish Research Council (IRC) Postgraduate Scholarship GOIPG/2018/3354. He is a PhD cancidate in the University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. The project is a collaboration of UCC and the Natural Sciences Collections of the Martin-Luther-University Halle (Saale), Germany.</span></em></p>Millions of years on. modern frogs and toads still haven’t learnt you can have too much of a good thing.Daniel Falk, Geology / Palaeontology PhD candidate, University College CorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1865352022-07-24T12:28:50Z2022-07-24T12:28:50ZFinding their song: Reviving the declining western chorus frog population is now critical<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474439/original/file-20220717-12-38fv83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C96%2C4262%2C2747&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The population of western chorus frogs has been declining over the past 60 years and continues to be an issue across Canada.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In November 2021, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault declared <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/orders/western-chorus-frog-longueuil-emergency-protection-order-summary.html">an emergency order that put an immediate halt</a> on a residential development in Longueuil, Que., to protect the critical habitat of one of Canada’s threatened amphibian species — the western chorus frog. </p>
<p>While this was one of the few cases where the federal government applied the Species at Risk Act to cease development on private land, the Canadian Shield’s population of western chorus frog — in addition to many other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-021-00425-w">closely related species</a> — has declined over the past 60 years and <a href="https://longpointbiosphere.com/download/Herptiles/Perspectives-on-amphibiam-population-declines-Green-1997.pdf">continues to be an issue in Canada</a>. </p>
<p>It was recently announced that the proposed route of Highway 413 in Ontario will impact the habitat of <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/highway-413-endangered-species/?fbclid=IwAR0sh374OVqgaqor0eLVB8fX-VQT3omUYnUp8FccKe8CcMgQiJ4_QFkMhPI">11 species at risk</a>, including the western chorus frog. The recent disappearance of this frog and its habitat — specially in portions of Ontario and Québec — has caused substantial <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/game-changer-court-ruling-gives-federal-government-right-to-protect-western-chorus-frog-1.4741646">concern and controversy</a>.</p>
<p>As a behavioural ecologist specializing in acoustics and a reproductive endocrinologist who invented an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.03.024">injectable hormone mixture</a> that induces frog breeding, we believe hope still exists. Habitat protection and restoration, advanced reproductive technologies and reintroduction procedures are all at our fingertips. This multifaceted approach could help slow further declines of chorus frogs and other amphibians. </p>
<h2>Global and local threats</h2>
<p>Despite its small size — measuring only two to three centimetres in length and often weighing less than two grams — the western chorus frog produces a loud, clear trill that is reminiscent of running a thumb across a plastic comb. </p>
<p>Historically, it was one of the most abundant amphibians in eastern Ontario and Québec. Now, it is found in <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/recovery-strategies/western-chorus-frog-canadian-shield-population.html">only 10 per cent of their original range</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A dark brown frog with light brown markings" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473222/original/file-20220708-27-8qc00h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473222/original/file-20220708-27-8qc00h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473222/original/file-20220708-27-8qc00h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473222/original/file-20220708-27-8qc00h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473222/original/file-20220708-27-8qc00h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473222/original/file-20220708-27-8qc00h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473222/original/file-20220708-27-8qc00h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An adult female western chorus frog (Pseudacris triseriata).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Callaghan)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Amphibians, including the western chorus frog and other frogs, toads and salamanders, play critical ecological roles in the environment. They are vital pieces in the local food chain. They are also economically important, as they provide free pest control in residential areas by consuming insect species, such as mosquitoes and blackflies, without the need of <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-mosquito-killing-natural-pesticides-unintentionally-harming-frogs-175194">pesticides that are potentially harmful to wildlife</a>. </p>
<p>Across the world, these amphibian species are rapidly disappearing due to habitat loss, disease, pollution, harvesting, invasive species and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35070552">climate change</a>. Over 40 per cent of species are <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/sapiens/1406">threatened with extinction</a>. Amphibian declines are part of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0801921105">sixth mass extinction</a> event on Earth, on a scale that is approaching the loss of dinosaurs. </p>
<h2>Captive breeding can aid reintroduction of frogs</h2>
<p>One strategy for conserving declining species is to collect individuals from the wild and breed them in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12612">laboratory or captive settings</a>.</p>
<p>This allows the offspring to grow without being threatened by predators, contaminants or other disturbances. The healthy offspring can then be released to boost numbers in the natural environment. </p>
<p>Along with Marc Mazerolle’s team at Laval University, we implemented this strategy through a recent collaborative effort with the Montreal Biodome and Sépaq (Société des établissements de plein air du Québec), with the goal of increasing the number of healthy individuals that can be released into appropriate restored natural sites to the benefit of all.</p>
<p>Two years into the project, adult chorus frogs have been successfully bred in captivity. Hundreds of tadpoles have been reared to froglets and released in constructed wetlands for the species. Some of the introduced individuals survived their first winter and adult males could be heard calling for females this past spring. These methods can be applied to species around the world.</p>
<h2>The critical role of awareness and conservation</h2>
<p>The first step is to spread awareness to emphasize the importance of amphibians and the speed at which species are declining. There are several resources and citizen science projects dedicate to the protection of amphibians, such as <a href="http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/index.html">Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation</a> and <a href="https://www.amphibians.org/">Amphibian Survival Alliance</a>.</p>
<p>Protection of wetlands from destruction and pollution is one of the best ways to help. Wetlands are critical to the survival of amphibians. During the construction of housing developments and infrastructure — such as the proposed Highway 413 — wetlands are often <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view/148062">drained or filled in</a>. Wetlands host many beautiful bird and plant species, not only amphibians, and they act as the earth’s filter to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.11.015">increase water quality</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A wetland" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473266/original/file-20220710-7520-dxircz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473266/original/file-20220710-7520-dxircz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473266/original/file-20220710-7520-dxircz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473266/original/file-20220710-7520-dxircz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473266/original/file-20220710-7520-dxircz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473266/original/file-20220710-7520-dxircz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473266/original/file-20220710-7520-dxircz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wetlands act as typical habitats for western chorus frogs and other amphibians.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Jeffrey P. Ethier)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Being careful while walking or driving near wetlands is another way to help on an individual level. Avoid disturbing breeding amphibians. Leave the tadpoles in the water. Observe and enjoy watching them grow legs and climb out of the water for the first time! Protecting the local ponds near your home can also contribute to this conservation.</p>
<p>You can also participate in public forums and let your community know that you support sustainable and responsible land use that keeps wetland habitats connected and protects critical areas for threatened species. Form volunteer groups to help protect frogs as they migrate over roads in the spring breeding season, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233740122_40_years_of_Natterjack_toad_Conservation_in_Europe">as seen in other countries</a>. We all have the power to make a positive difference in the protection of amphibians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Ethier receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vance L Trudeau receives funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada and Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs.</span></em></p>Habitat protection and restoration, advanced reproductive technologies and reintroduction procedures could help slow the decline of western chorus frogs and other amphibians.Jeffrey P. Ethier, PhD candidate, Department of Biology, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaVance L Trudeau, Professor, Department of Biology, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1842552022-06-12T23:03:08Z2022-06-12T23:03:08ZAustralian frogs are dying en masse again, and we need your help to find out why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467946/original/file-20220609-17-ai0xws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C5%2C1908%2C1270&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A dead Peron's tree frog (_Litoria peronii_)</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ken Griffiths</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last winter, thousands of dead and dying frogs were found across Australia. Instead of hunkering down and out of sight, frogs were spotted during the day in the open, on footpaths, highways and doorsteps – often in the blazing sun.</p>
<p>These frogs were often thin, slow moving, and with dark patches on their back or red bellies. They were seeking water in pet bowls or pot plants. And they usually died in a matter of hours.</p>
<p>A crash in frog populations could have very real consequences, particularly for already threatened frog species, and the importance of frogs in both freshwater and land systems means it can also impact entire ecosystems. </p>
<p>Thankfully, reports of sick or dead frogs slowed as the weather got warmer, and by the end of last year they had all but ceased. We hoped the awful spate of frog deaths was a one-off. But now, we fear it is happening again. </p>
<p>In the last few weeks, we’ve started getting scarily similar reports of sick and dead frogs from people across Australia. </p>
<p>From Warwick in southeast Queensland, we’ve received emails reporting green tree frogs (<em>Litoria caerulea</em>), discoloured and hunched up, sitting in the open, with the upsetting email: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We normally have these beautiful creatures hopping around our house but in the last week have only spotted two. Both were dead.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>From Sydney’s North Shore, another report:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have just found a dead Peron’s tree frog when raking up leaves in my garden.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And most recently, one of our colleagues stumbled across a big green tree frog in the middle of the day while bird-watching in western Sydney. The bright green frog was sitting in the sun on an asphalt path. In only a few hours, the frog was dead. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467949/original/file-20220609-24-a36wuv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A big green tree frog sitting on a hot asphalt path. It died in a matter of hours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nadiah Roslan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How many frogs died last year?</h2>
<p>Photos of sick frogs started popping up on social media feeds in May last year. This was not initially alarming, as sick, old or injured frogs are most likely to die in winter as their <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01159.x">immune system slows down</a>. </p>
<p>However, reports increased over late June and July, and we began to worry about just how many frogs were dying. Unfortunately, just as we began to worry, we were in lockdown, unable to venture out and investigate for ourselves. </p>
<p>So we <a href="https://theconversation.com/dead-shrivelled-frogs-are-unexpectedly-turning-up-across-eastern-australia-we-need-your-help-to-find-out-why-165176">asked the community for help</a>. We asked for reports of sick or dead frogs, and then aligned members of the public with local veterinary clinics willing to take in these frogs for examination, care and diagnostic sample collection. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467952/original/file-20220609-12-bb4522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dead, shrivelled green tree frog found by a member of the public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Suzanne Mcgovern</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467956/original/file-20220609-16-dr91o2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Another dead, discoloured green tree frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jayne Barrett</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This meant the welfare of frogs could be assured, and we could begin our scientific investigation into the cause once lockdown ended. </p>
<p>Reports came flooding in. Across Australia, a remarkable 1,600 people reported finding sick or dead frogs. Each report often described dozens of dead frogs, making the grim tally in the thousands. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dead-shrivelled-frogs-are-unexpectedly-turning-up-across-eastern-australia-we-need-your-help-to-find-out-why-165176">Dead, shrivelled frogs are unexpectedly turning up across eastern Australia. We need your help to find out why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Although most sick and dead frogs reported were green tree frogs, this is likely because this species tends to hang around houses and be spotted more. Frog species <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.15623">less tolerant of suburbia</a> are far less likely to be seen. </p>
<p>Despite this, more than 40 species were reported, including threatened species such as the green and golden bell frog (<em>Litoria aurea</em>) and the giant barred frog (<em>Mixophyes iteratus</em>).</p>
<p>The true death count and full list of species impacted is likely to be orders of magnitude higher.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467958/original/file-20220609-16-aepust.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The green and golden bell frog, <em>Litoria aurea</em></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467960/original/file-20220609-22-mz9zxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The giant barred frog, <em>Mixophyes iteratus</em></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why are the frogs dying?</h2>
<p>We’ve been working with universities, government biosecurity and environment agencies to understand just what caused frogs to die last winter. </p>
<p>Our investigation has only been made possible due to the efforts of people across Australia reporting sick and dead frogs, taking sick frogs to veterinary clinics and freezing dead frogs for us to pick up and test ourselves. </p>
<p>In New South Wales alone, more than 350 people froze dead frogs for us to collect. Without this help, we would still be at square one with our investigation. </p>
<p>It’s a murder mystery, and there are so many possible suspects. We’ve been testing for parasitic, bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens. These tests include looking for pathogens known to kill frogs, and also looking for possible novel pathogens, which is by far the harder task. The potential role of toxins is also being assessed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467961/original/file-20220609-14-jomj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dead green stream frog, <em>Litoria phyllochroa</em></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Jennings</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Right from the very first frog deaths last year, our number one suspect has been the amphibian chytrid fungus (<em>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</em>). This pathogen is a known frog killer, responsible for causing frog population declines and species extinctions around the world, including in Australia. </p>
<p>The fungus attacks the skin of frogs, which is their Achilles heel – frogs use their skin to breathe, drink and control electrolytes. Deaths of frogs due to this pathogen are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-0813.2004.tb11137.x">often at cooler temperatures</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-fungus-threatens-to-wipe-out-100-frog-species-heres-how-it-can-be-stopped-117842">A deadly fungus threatens to wipe out 100 frog species – here's how it can be stopped</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our testing has revealed the amphibian chytrid fungus is certainly involved in this mass death event. Most of the hundreds of dead frogs tested so far have tested positive for the pathogen. </p>
<p>But we aren’t yet sure if the fungus is acting alone, or even the primary cause of death. We continue to test for an array of other pathogens, toxins and other potential stressors. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467962/original/file-20220609-14-fwy2pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A healthy green tree frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why should we care?</h2>
<p>Australia has <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/frogs">247 known species of native frog</a>, <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl">40 of which are threatened with extinction</a>, and at least four species are already extinct. </p>
<p>The impacts on Australia’s frog species from such large scale deaths are unknown, but scientific surveys of frogs, combined with large scale <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/">citizen science data</a> are underway.</p>
<p>Frogs are often extremely <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/zo97062">abundant</a>, and play an important role in the flow of energy and nutrients, and in food webs. In places where amphibians have declined, the impacts are noticeable, with ripple effects <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23501304">across entire ecosystems</a> as animals that rely on frogs for food start to disappear, too.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UDwU9JR1vM8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The 26 Australian frog species at greatest risk of extinction.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/clicks-bonks-and-dripping-taps-listen-to-the-calls-of-6-frogs-out-and-about-this-summer-150084">Clicks, bonks and dripping taps: listen to the calls of 6 frogs out and about this summer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>We need your help</h2>
<p>To help us understand the scale and cause of any frog deaths this winter, please send any reports of sick or dead frogs to the Australian Museum’s citizen science project <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/">FrogID</a> via calls@frogid.net.au. </p>
<p>Please include your location and, if possible, photos of the frog(s).</p>
<p>To help us determine the impact of frog deaths on Australia’s frogs, and which species are likely to need our help the most, please download the free <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/">FrogID</a> app and record calling frogs whenever you can. </p>
<p>Every recording will help us better understand and conserve Australia’s frogs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184255/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodi Rowley is the Lead Scientist of the Australian Museum's citizen science project, FrogID. She has received funding from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Perth Zoo, the Australian Museum Foundation and other state, federal and philanthropic agencies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span> Karrie Rose leads the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health, a collaboration between Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the University of Sydney. The Registry is funded by Taronga Conservation Society Australia, service agreements and project-based funding from state, commonwealth and philanthropic agencies.</span></em></p>Thousands of sick and dead frogs are turning up around Australia, bizarrely lying out in the open. If you see one, let these scientists know.Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW SydneyKarrie Rose, Australian Registry of Wildlife Health - Taronga Conservation Society Australia, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1751942022-02-06T14:51:33Z2022-02-06T14:51:33ZAre mosquito-killing natural pesticides unintentionally harming frogs?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443558/original/file-20220131-118399-gsobvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C50%2C3664%2C2036&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mosquito eggs float on the surface of a pond. The insecticide Bti is used to kill mosquito larvae, but it could also harm frogs.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The question of how pesticides affect public health and the environment has generated a lot of attention <a href="http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/commissions/capern/mandats/Mandat-40773/index.html">in Québec</a>. Pesticides are widely used and often end up in our natural environment.</p>
<p>Pesticides are useful for killing weeds (herbicides), fungi (fungicides), insect pests in agriculture and fleas in pets (insecticides). They are also used to reduce the numbers of biting insects in urban and rural environments.</p>
<p>We have recently studied the indirect health effects on frogs of a biopesticide that has been in use for several decades, mainly to reduce the number of bothersome mosquitoes.</p>
<h2>Bacterial proteins are naturally occurring insecticides</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/consumer-product-safety/reports-publications/pesticides-pest-management/fact-sheets-other-resources/bacillus-thuringiensis-subspecies-israelensis.html">Bti is one of a number of pesticides used worldwide</a> to reduce the populations of biting insects that breed in wetlands. This biological insecticide is composed of natural toxins from the bacterium <em>Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis</em>.</p>
<p>These toxins, synthesized in the form of crystals, belong to the Cry family of proteins, and target the larvae of biting insects such as mosquitos and blackflies. After the larvae ingests the crystals, they dissolve in the digestive tract and are transformed into toxic proteins that destroy the walls of the intestine, killing the larvae.</p>
<p>In principle, Cry toxins should not affect the intestinal walls of vertebrate species (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish) because the digestive conditions of these species do not favour the transformation of the crystals into destructive proteins. According to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/consumer-product-safety/reports-publications/pesticides-pest-management/fact-sheets-other-resources/bacillus-thuringiensis-subspecies-israelensis.html">Health Canada</a> Bti is not a high risk to other animals and humans.</p>
<p>However, the use of Bti <a href="https://environmentalevidencejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13750-019-0175-1">remains controversial</a>.</p>
<h2>Toxic effects or no effects of Bti formulations?</h2>
<p>Bti is often applied directly to small bodies of water, such as marshes, to specifically target aquatic mosquito and blackfly larvae. It could potentially impact other aquatic animal species, such as frog tadpoles, which are known to be sensitive to pollutants.</p>
<p>Some studies have shown that Bti formulations can be directly toxic to frogs, while others have revealed no effects.</p>
<p>For example, two Argentinian studies reported that a commercial formulation of Bti, called Introban, was toxic to tadpoles of the Creole frog. However, <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c02322">our work</a> showed that a Bti formulation called VectoBac did not cause mortality in wood frog and American toad tadpoles.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Experimental laboratory with aquaria" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443565/original/file-20220131-139881-e0m14f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443565/original/file-20220131-139881-e0m14f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443565/original/file-20220131-139881-e0m14f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443565/original/file-20220131-139881-e0m14f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443565/original/file-20220131-139881-e0m14f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443565/original/file-20220131-139881-e0m14f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443565/original/file-20220131-139881-e0m14f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Valerie Langlois and her team are studying the effects of some commercial Bti formulations on frogs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Valerie Langlois)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These contrasting results could be attributed to the different Bti formulations used in one country or another, the product’s potency, the species used or the environmental conditions during the experiments. Each commercial Bti product also contains additives that are known only to their manufacturers and whose effects on tadpoles are not known.</p>
<p>Our team has written about these differences in an article published in the scientific journal <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33876257/"><em>Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology</em></a>.</p>
<h2>Metamorphosis and intestinal microbiota</h2>
<p>The results of our study, published recently in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c02322"><em>Environmental Science & Technology</em></a>, revealed that VectoBac may affect frog metamorphosis — the transition from tadpole to young frog.</p>
<p>In wood frogs and American toads, two types of VectoBac altered the time it took a tadpole to metamorphose, either delaying metamorphosis by nearly five days or advancing it by one day, depending on the treatment. Studies on frog ecology have established that early metamorphosis reduces a frog’s chance of survival, which could ultimately reduce population sizes. </p>
<p>In addition to metamorphosis, both types of VectoBac we studied altered the composition of the gut bacterial community of exposed young toads. Indeed, with the application rates recommended by the manufacturer, there was an increase in the relative abundance of certain families of gut bacteria. The impact of these changes remains unknown.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00119-0">2017 study</a> by Jason Rohr of the University of Pittsburgh showed that disruption of the microbiota of amphibians decreases resistance to parasites later in life. Our team will focus on determining whether Bti-induced changes in microbiota impact the physiology of frogs in the long-term.</p>
<h2>The precautionary principle</h2>
<p>Should the <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/573876/EPRS_IDA(2015)573876_EN.pdf">precautionary principle</a>, which states that “a substance should be considered potentially harmful to human health and the environment until proven otherwise,” be applied to amphibian habitats?</p>
<p>Our results indicate that the impact of commercial Bti products on amphibian health is variable among the species we studied, but our understanding remains limited. Bti formulations contain ingredients other than just natural toxins and we do not yet know if these have any effects on tadpoles.</p>
<p>As a result, we recommend that the application of Bti products in amphibian-rich ecosystems be targeted and minimized, taking into account sensitive periods during a frog’s life cycle, including reproduction and development of eggs into young frogs.</p>
<p>These precautions should be applied until research is conducted to assess whether the observed changes in metamorphosis and gut microbiota have adverse effects on amphibian populations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175194/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valérie S. Langlois has received funding from the Quebec's Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec (MFFP) and holds the Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Ecotoxicogenomics and Endocrine Disruption.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juan Manuel Gutierrez-Villagomez has received funding from the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec (MFFP). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madelaine Empey is a PhD student of Dr. Vance Trudeau's and receives funding from his laboratory and from the City of Ottawa.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vance L Trudeau has received funding from the City of Ottawa, G.D.G. Environment Ltd., NSERC and a University Research Chair in Neuroendocrinology at the University of Ottawa.</span></em></p>The insecticide Bti kills target organisms like mosquitoes and blackflies, but new research shows it may also have negative effects on non-target species like frogs.Valérie S. Langlois, Professor/Professeure titulaire, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)Juan Manuel Gutierrez-Villagomez, Postdoctoral research fellow, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)Madelaine Empey, PhD Student, Biology, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaVance L Trudeau, Professor, Department of Biology, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1760032022-02-02T18:38:14Z2022-02-02T18:38:14ZThe frog and the gecko: why tropical species are at greater climate risk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443290/original/file-20220130-27-8x64gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C74%2C3847%2C2804&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Predictions indicate that the Madagascar frog _Mantella aurantiaca_ is likely to experience a dramatic decline by 2070.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frank Vassen/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The effects of climate change – extreme heat waves, wildfires of unprecedented magnitude and devastating floods – have now been occurring for several decades, and the COP26 climate agreement reached in Glasgow will not be enough to keep global warming below 2°C, as the French climatologist Benjamin Sultan recently said.</p>
<p>Species do not escape these disruptions. In a report from the <a href="https://ipbes.net/">IPBES</a>, the equivalent of the IPCC for biodiversity, ecologists highlight dramatic declines in numbers <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809&_ga=2.42103269.1751527880.1531267200-635596102.1531267200">throughout the world</a>, including in regions which are apparently preserved.</p>
<p>Future projections are no better. Studies aimed at predicting the effects of climate change suggest there will be winners and losers, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.13925">but mostly losers</a> - not to mention the risks of invasion by the “winners”.</p>
<p>Although the idea of containing global warming to less than 2°C is making headway, that endeavour would nonetheless remain insufficient, as stressed in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-019-02420-x">study published in the leading journal <em>Climate Change</em></a>.</p>
<h2>A clearer signal in the tropics</h2>
<p>Climate change, as we can see, will cost us all, even in temperate regions. However, a growing number of studies show a gradient in the magnitude of species response to climate change. The closer to the equator, the more severe the effects. This is the case for example in European birds, with greater declines in the southernmost populations. The same pattern exists in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.13762">North American mountains</a>, where birds track the cold toward higher altitudes, but it is mostly seen in the tropics.</p>
<p>This gradient was also observed in the body size of <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2010.0796">French passerines</a>. A study that I completed with the French National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), now published in <em>Global Change and Biogeography</em>, showed that juvenile growth was negatively affected by high temperatures, but only in the south. I summarise this research with Benjamin Freeman (University of British Columbia) in the following rap song:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7M-YdF6zLP0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">“Species, climate change and latitude (Scientific Rap Sessions, 6 octobre 2021).”.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Species living closer to their tolerance threshold</h2>
<p>How can such a pattern be explained? Are the southernmost species not adapted to warmer climates? Of course they are, but heat and drought still represent the main constraints in those regions. In the Mediterranean region, warming would increase aridity, and hence decrease plant production – the basis of the food chain. More heat, more aridity, fewer plants and fewer insects mean less food for birds during the spring.</p>
<p>What about the tropics, where the climate is wet? Species have also adapted to these climates, but the upper limit of their thermal tolerance is no different from that of temperate species. Tropical species live permanently close to this limit. Hence, a very slight shift in temperature may <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raymond-Huey-2/publication/267277038_Putting_the_heat_on_lizards_Cimate_physiology_and_climate_impacts_across_latitude/links/5716574708aedb90cac436e5/Putting-the-heat-on-lizards-Cimate-physiology-and-climate-impacts-across-latitude.pdf">drive them beyond their physiological comfort zone</a>.</p>
<h2>Alarming projections</h2>
<p>It is possible to anticipate the consequences of climate change using predictive models. After identifying the suitable climate conditions for a given species, ecologists make use of the future climate scenarios built by climatologists.</p>
<p>In a study carried out in collaboration with the University of Porto and the NGO Madagasikara Voakajy, these models predict a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2021.10.002">dramatic decline in climate conditions by 2070 for two species</a>: a bright-coloured frog from Madagascar and a gecko, a sticky-toed lizard from Reunion Island.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438015/original/file-20211216-15-12k2a53.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Phelsuma inexpectata</em>, a spe-cies of gecko living on the island of Reunion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">B. Navez/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both species are restricted to a narrow region, with very specific climate conditions. The study accounts for a variety of sources of uncertainty, either related to the scenario or the methods. In every case, the climate will become largely unsuitable for both species, not only within their current distribution area, but also across their entire respective islands. Climate change can now be added to the long list of threats already pressuring their environment.</p>
<h2>A glimmer of hope</h2>
<p>Those models suggest that the ideal climate conditions for these species will no longer be met in the future. However, they ignore the species’ capacity to adapt to new conditions. Some species may modify their habits in order to avoid the warmest periods of the day (or year). Others may find micro-climatic refuges, either in the wild or in urban areas. It is also possible that those species may tolerate heat better than expected.</p>
<p>Conservation actions have already been undertaken in Reunion. The NGO <a href="https://natureoceanindien.org/la-restauration-dhabitats-naturels/">Nature Océan Indien</a> has planned restoration programmes for the natural habitat of the gecko. These steps enable climate risks to be anticipated by favouring the existing populations.</p>
<p>What is the point of all this if the climate becomes unsuitable in the future? The study enabled us to identify with a high degree of precision the areas that are predicted to be the most favourable in the future. The results will provide guidelines for conservation practitioners and help them to maintain or create suitable habitats which will represent a haven for this highly endangered lizard.</p>
<p>Because data is patchy, this study was conducted only on two species. However, such grim predictions could well become reality for a number of other tropical species. In short: this is another alarm bell in an overheated world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176003/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicolas Dubos ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>While species are and will be affected everywhere by climate change, those already living in a warm climate will reach their tolerance threshold faster.Nicolas Dubos, Researcher in Ecology, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1752262022-01-25T19:03:20Z2022-01-25T19:03:20ZSome endangered species can no longer survive in the wild. So should we alter their genes?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442159/original/file-20220124-17-fdh2zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1650%2C930&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Melbourne Zoo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around the world, populations of many beloved species are declining at increasing rates. According to one <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/30/world-plant-species-risk-extinction-fungi-earth">grim projection</a>, as many as 40% of the world’s species may be extinct by 2050. Alarmingly, many of these declines are caused by threats for which few solutions exist.</p>
<p>Numerous species now depend on conservation breeding programs for their survival. But these programs typically do not encourage species to adapt and survive in the wild alongside intractable threats such as climate change and disease.</p>
<p>This means some species can no longer exist in the wild, which causes major downstream effects on the ecosystem. Consider, for example, how a coral reef would struggle to function without corals.</p>
<p>What if there was another way? My colleagues and I have developed an intervention method that aims to give endangered species the genetic features they need to survive in the wild.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="bleached coral with fish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411140/original/file-20210714-13-1bf7ccv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411140/original/file-20210714-13-1bf7ccv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411140/original/file-20210714-13-1bf7ccv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411140/original/file-20210714-13-1bf7ccv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411140/original/file-20210714-13-1bf7ccv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411140/original/file-20210714-13-1bf7ccv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411140/original/file-20210714-13-1bf7ccv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Genetically altering coral may help them survive in a warmer world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rick Stuart-Smith</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bringing theory into practice</h2>
<p>Over generations, natural selection enables species to adapt to threats. But in many instances today, the speed at which threats are developing is outpacing species’ ability to adapt. </p>
<p>This problem is especially apparent in wildlife threatened by newly emerging infectious diseases such as chytridiomycosis in amphibians, and in climate-affected species such as corals. </p>
<p>The toolkit my colleagues and I developed is called “targeted genetic intervention” or TGI. It works by increasing the occurrence or frequency of genetic features that impact an organism’s fitness in the presence of the threat. We outline the method in a recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534721003384">research paper</a>.</p>
<p>The toolkit involves <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/artificial-selection">artificial selection</a> and <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00175/full">synthetic biology</a>. These tools are well established in agriculture and medicine but relatively untested as conservation tools. We explain them in more detail below.</p>
<p>Many tools in our TGI toolkit have been discussed in theory in conservation literature in recent decades. But rapid developments in genome sequencing and synthetic biology mean some are now possible in practice.</p>
<p>The developments have made it easier to understand the genetic basis of features which enable a species to adapt, and to manipulate them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-name-the-26-australian-frogs-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-by-2040-and-how-to-save-them-166339">We name the 26 Australian frogs at greatest risk of extinction by 2040 — and how to save them</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="frog on wet rock" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442166/original/file-20220124-19-xc82dx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442166/original/file-20220124-19-xc82dx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442166/original/file-20220124-19-xc82dx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442166/original/file-20220124-19-xc82dx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442166/original/file-20220124-19-xc82dx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442166/original/file-20220124-19-xc82dx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442166/original/file-20220124-19-xc82dx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some animal species cannot adapt in time to survive threats such as disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is artificial selection?</h2>
<p>Humans have long used artificial (or phenotypic) selection to promote desirable characteristics in animals and plants raised for companionship or food. This genetic alteration has led to organisms, such as domestic dogs and maize, that are dramatically different from their wild progenitors.</p>
<p>Traditional artificial selection can lead to outcomes, such as high inbreeding rates, that affect the health and resilience of the organism and are undesirable for conservation. If you’ve ever owned a purebred dog, you might be aware of some of these genetic disorders.</p>
<p>And when it comes to conservation, determining which individuals from a species are resistant to, say, a deadly pathogen would involve exposing the animal to the threat – clearly not in the interests of species preservation.</p>
<p>Scientists in the livestock industry have developed a new approach to circumvent these problems. Called genomic selection, it combines data from laboratory work (such as a disease trial) with the genetic information of the animals to predict which individuals bear genetic features conducive to adaptation. </p>
<p>These individuals are then chosen for breeding. Over subsequent generations, a population’s ability to survive alongside pervasive threats increases.</p>
<p>Genomic selection has led to disease-resistant salmon and livestock that produce more milk and better tolerate heat. But it is yet to be tested in conservation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-this-little-marsupials-poo-nurtures-urban-gardens-and-bushland-and-how-you-can-help-protect-them-175064">How this little marsupial's poo nurtures urban gardens and bushland (and how you can help protect them)</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="cows in green field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442161/original/file-20220124-27-11vyq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442161/original/file-20220124-27-11vyq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442161/original/file-20220124-27-11vyq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442161/original/file-20220124-27-11vyq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442161/original/file-20220124-27-11vyq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442161/original/file-20220124-27-11vyq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442161/original/file-20220124-27-11vyq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artificial selection has been used to develop traits that humans desire in livestock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is synthetic biology?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Synthetic-Biology">Synthetic biology</a> is a toolkit for promoting change in organisms. It includes methods such as transgenesis and gene editing, which can be used to introduce lost or novel genes or tweak specific genetic features. </p>
<p>Recent synthetic biology tools such as <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/genomicresearch/genomeediting/">CRISPR-Cas9</a> have created a buzz in the medical world, and are also starting to gain the <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/48408">attention</a> of conservation biologists.</p>
<p>Such tools can accurately tweak targeted genetic features in an individual organism – making it more able to adapt – while leaving the rest of the genome untouched. The genetic modifications are then passed on to subsequent generations.</p>
<p>The method reduces the likelihood of unintended genetic changes that can occur with artificial selection.</p>
<p>Synthetic biology methods are currently being trialled for conservation in multiple species around the world. These include the <a href="https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/resistance.htm">chestnut tree</a> and black-footed <a href="https://neo.life/2021/05/cloning-wildlife-and-editing-their-genes-to-protect-them-and-us/">ferrets</a> in the United States, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/gene-editing-is-revealing-how-corals-respond-to-warming-waters-it-could-transform-how-we-manage-our-reefs-143444">corals</a> in Australia.</p>
<p>I am working with researchers at the University of Melbourne to develop TGI approaches in Australian frogs. We are trialling these approaches in the iconic southern corroboree frog, and plan to extend them to other species if they prove effective.</p>
<p>Worldwide, the disease chytridiomycosis is devastating frog populations. Caused by the fungal pathogen <em>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</em>, it has led to the extinction of about <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/amphibian-apocalypse-frogs-salamanders-worst-chytrid-fungus">90 frog species</a> and declines in as many as 500 others.</p>
<p>Many frog species now rely on conservation breeding for their continued survival. No effective solution for restoring chytrid-susceptible frogs to the wild exists, because the fungus cannot be eradicated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="gloved hand removed portion of DNA strand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442155/original/file-20220124-23-cebr8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442155/original/file-20220124-23-cebr8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442155/original/file-20220124-23-cebr8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442155/original/file-20220124-23-cebr8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442155/original/file-20220124-23-cebr8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442155/original/file-20220124-23-cebr8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442155/original/file-20220124-23-cebr8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CRISPR technology could potentially be used to edit the genes of endangered species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>As with many conservation approaches, targeted genetic intervention is likely to involve trade-offs. For example, genetic features that make a species resistant to one disease may make it more susceptible to another.</p>
<p>But the rapid rate of species declines means we should trial such potential solutions before it’s too late. The longer species are absent from an ecosystem, the greater the chance of irreversible environmental changes. </p>
<p>Any genetic intervention of this type should involve all stakeholders, including Indigenous peoples and local communities. And caution should be taken to ensure species are fit for release and pose no risk to the environment.</p>
<p>By bringing the concept of TGI to the attention of the public, government, and other scientists, we hope we will spur discussion and encourage research on its risks and benefits.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-major-heatwaves-in-30-years-have-turned-the-great-barrier-reef-into-a-bleached-checkerboard-170719">5 major heatwaves in 30 years have turned the Great Barrier Reef into a bleached checkerboard</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Kosch is a member of One Health Research Group at the University of Melbourne. Her research is currently funded by the Australian Research Council (grants FT190100462 and LP200301370). Additionally, the genome of their target species, the Southern Corroboree frog is currently being sequenced at no cost to the group by the Vertebrate Genomes Project. </span></em></p>The rapid rate of species declines means we should trial potential solutions before it’s too late.Tiffany Kosch, Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1744232022-01-11T19:15:28Z2022-01-11T19:15:28ZExperience the spectacular sounds of a Murrumbidgee wetland erupting with life as water returns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439785/original/file-20220107-33400-nt40rd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C42%2C2552%2C1211&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the southwestern corner of New South Wales, along the Murrumbidgee river, frogs are calling in a wetland called Nap Nap. This is <a href="https://www.narinari.org/our-journey">Nari Nari</a> country – nap nap means “very swampy” in traditional language. </p>
<p>Nap Nap is one of many inland wetlands across Australia to receive so-called “environmental water”: water allocated and managed to improve the health of rivers, wetlands and floodplains.</p>
<p><a href="https://flow-mer.org.au/">Long-term monitoring</a> shows how these environmental flows sustain big old trees and cycle nutrients through the ecosystem. They drive breeding for frogs, waterbirds, reptiles and fish, and protect endangered species. This is a good news story for our inland waterways – but it’s mostly told through scientific reports. </p>
<p>We wanted to use ecological data to convey not just facts but feelings, and create a vivid digital portrait of life in Nap Nap. So we recently produced <a href="https://flow-mer.org.au/napnap/">The Sound of Water</a>, using audio, images and water data to reveal the patterns and rhythms of the swamp.</p>
<p>In part, this is about finding an engaging way to tell an important story. But there’s a bigger agenda here too: how might we use environmental data to amplify humanity’s attachment to the living world? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A view of a forest wetland, with water surrounded by tall gum trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439776/original/file-20220107-13-1wm9dil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nap Nap wetland, the name of which means ‘very swampy’ in traditional language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gayleen Bourke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Addressing an imbalance</h2>
<p>Healthy wetlands rely on varying river flows. When a river is flooding or at high flow, water is delivered to wetlands, enabling seeds to sprout and animals to move and breed. When the river is at low flow, wetlands enter a natural drying phase.</p>
<p>But across Australia, thousands of wetlands have lost their natural connection to rivers. Lower river flows – the result of water regulation and diversions required to meet human needs – means many wetlands no longer experience these natural cycles.</p>
<p>Environmental flows seek to address this imbalance. Managed by water authorities, the flows involve strategically delivering water to replenish rivers, wetlands and floodplains.</p>
<p>Our project – a design-science collaboration – was funded by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office’s <a href="https://flow-mer.org.au">Flow-MER program</a>, which undertakes long-term monitoring of the ecological impact of environmental water allocations.</p>
<h2>The Sound of Water</h2>
<p>Across nine days in spring of 2020, an environmental flow of about 16,000 million litres rolled into Nap Nap swamp in the Lowbidgee floodplain after a brief dry spell. The Lowbidgee floodplain is near the confluence of the Kalari (Lachlan) and Murrumbidgee rivers in New South Wales.</p>
<p>The frogs began calling as the water returned. But don’t take our word for it - listen for yourself:</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="77" data-image="" data-title="Frog chorus, Nap Nap Swamp, 7 September 2020, 7pm." data-size="1575314" data-source="" data-source-url="" data-license="CC BY" data-license-url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2352/sept7-audio-conversation-stereo.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
Frog chorus, Nap Nap Swamp, 7 September 2020, 7pm.
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a><span class="download"><span>1.5 MB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2352/sept7-audio-conversation-stereo.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<p>In this clip, you can hear the squelchy, “cree-cree” call of tiny, hardy Murray Valley froglets. You can also hear inland banjo frogs, whose “dok” call sounds a bit like a plucked string; spotted marsh frogs with a machine-gun like “duk-duk-duk”; and the shrill, rattling call of Peron’s tree frog. </p>
<p>This recording comes from an audio logger used in Flow-MER’s environmental monitoring. These automatic devices record for five minutes every hour, day and night – that’s two hours of sound captured every day.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A small light grey frog on a tree branch calling, with its throat puffed out" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440161/original/file-20220111-17-5maxbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440161/original/file-20220111-17-5maxbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440161/original/file-20220111-17-5maxbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440161/original/file-20220111-17-5maxbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440161/original/file-20220111-17-5maxbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440161/original/file-20220111-17-5maxbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440161/original/file-20220111-17-5maxbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Peron’s tree frog has a shrill, rattling call.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Damian Michael</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seeing wetland sounds</h2>
<p>To reveal the content of all this audio, we used a visual representation of sound known as a spectrogram. We adapted a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2014.05.063">technique</a> developed by researchers at the Queensland University of Technology which enables ecologists to visualise and analyse thousands of hours of recordings.</p>
<p>We visualised almost a year’s worth of audio from Nap Nap – more than 700 hours. </p>
<p>The below image contains spectrograms of audio from June 2020, which was a dry period in the swamp. The colourful central band corresponds to the noisy daylight hours, when woodland birds dominate. </p>
<p>The vivid blue areas are wind and rain noise. The pink and orange are mostly bird calls, and continuous sounds like cricket calls show up as strong horizontal bands (top right).</p>
<p>The mostly dark outer bands correspond to the nights, which in dry periods are fairly quiet.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-murrumbidgee-rivers-wet-season-height-has-dropped-by-30-since-the-1990s-and-the-outlook-is-bleak-165764">The Murrumbidgee River's wet season height has dropped by 30% since the 1990s — and the outlook is bleak</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Spectrograms of audio showing the patterns and variation of activity across 10 days" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439614/original/file-20220106-19-77zfci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spectrograms of Nap Nap audio from June 2020. Each row shows a single day, made up of 24 hourly segments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But as the environmental water flow reached Nap Nap, the night lit up with frog calls. Our story focuses on this moment. We found a way to link the visuals to the source audio, creating interactive timelines in which we can see, hear and explore the wetland soundscape. </p>
<p>The stars of our story are Nap Nap’s frogs, and our most important find was a southern bell frog. Once widespread across southeastern Australia, these frogs are now found in only a few isolated populations. </p>
<p>Their distinctive call indicates the ecological health of Nap Nap, and the value of these environmental flows. Here you can listen to its deep, growling call, which appears as a sequence of pink and purple blobs along the bottom of the spectrogram. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-name-the-26-australian-frogs-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-by-2040-and-how-to-save-them-166339">We name the 26 Australian frogs at greatest risk of extinction by 2040 — and how to save them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/663205855" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Spectrogram of a southern bell frog calling at Nap Nap (3 September 2020, 8pm). Image: Gayleen Bourke.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A data portrait of a living place</h2>
<p>Our design uses a scroll-based interaction technique sometimes termed “<a href="https://medium.com/nightingale/from-storytelling-to-scrollytelling-a-short-introduction-and-beyond-fbda32066964">scrollytelling</a>”. It works because it’s familiar (everyone can scroll) and translates well to all kinds of devices. It lets us lead the audience step by step into the place, the data and the spectrograms, while still encouraging exploration.</p>
<p><a href="https://flow-mer.org.au/napnap/">The Sound of Water</a> builds on established techniques to create something new. It shows how design and science can unite to tell environmental stories in a richer way – with both facts and feelings. This matters because Nap Nap, and thousands of places like it, need people to care about their protection.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>To explore the full version of The Sound of Water, click <a href="https://flow-mer.org.au/napnap/">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mitchell Whitelaw receives funding from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Skye Wassens receives funding from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office</span></em></p>A unique design-science collaboration turns ecological data into an immersive digital portrait of a precious wetland.Mitchell Whitelaw, Professor of Design, School of Art and Design, Australian National UniversitySkye Wassens, Associate Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1662672021-09-07T20:11:51Z2021-09-07T20:11:51ZNew research reveals animals are changing their body shapes to cope with climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419552/original/file-20210906-13-fg5710.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C553%2C4831%2C2681&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Global warming is a big challenge for warm-blooded animals, which must maintain a constant internal body temperature. As anyone who’s experienced heatstroke can tell you, our bodies become severely stressed when we overheat. </p>
<p>Animals are dealing with global warming in various ways. Some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0789-x">move</a> to cooler areas, such as closer to the poles or to higher ground. Some <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-phenology-is-key-in-tracking-climate-change-123783">change the timing</a> of key life events such as breeding and migration, so they take place at cooler times. And others evolve to change their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.03.005">body size</a> to cool down more quickly.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.07.006">new research</a> examined another way animal species cope with climate change: by changing the size of their ears, tails, beaks and other appendages. We reviewed the published literature and found examples of animals increasing appendage size in parallel with climate change and associated temperature increases. </p>
<p>In doing so, we identified multiple examples of animals that are most likely “shape-shifters” – including species in Australia. The pattern is widespread, and suggests climate warming may result in fundamental changes to animal form.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="bat upside down on rock wall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419560/original/file-20210906-27-ews929.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419560/original/file-20210906-27-ews929.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419560/original/file-20210906-27-ews929.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419560/original/file-20210906-27-ews929.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419560/original/file-20210906-27-ews929.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419560/original/file-20210906-27-ews929.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419560/original/file-20210906-27-ews929.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The great roundleaf bat is among the animals found to be ‘shape shifting’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Adhering to Allen’s rule</h2>
<p>It’s well known that animals use their appendages to regulate their internal temperature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0300-9629(92)90345-Q">African elephants</a>, for example, pump warm blood to their large ears, which they then flap to disperse heat. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1175553">beaks of birds</a> perform a similar function – blood flow can be diverted to the bill when the bird is hot. This heat-dispersing function is depicted in the thermal image of a king parrot below, which shows the beak is warmer than the rest of the body.</p>
<p>All this means there are advantages to bigger appendages in warmer environments. In fact, as far back as the 1870s, American zoologist Joel Allen noted in colder climates, warm-blooded animals – also known as endotherms – tended to have smaller appendages while those in warmer climates tend to have larger ones.</p>
<p>This pattern became known as Allen’s rule, which has since been supported by studies of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/653666">birds</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13198.">mammals</a>. </p>
<p>Biological patterns such as Allen’s rule can also help make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.003">predictions</a> about how animals will evolve as the climate warms. Our research set out to find examples of animal shape-shifting over the past century, consistent with climatic warming and Allen’s rule. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/photos-from-the-field-why-losing-these-tiny-loyal-fish-to-climate-change-spells-disaster-for-coral-167119">Photos from the field: why losing these tiny, loyal fish to climate change spells disaster for coral</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Thermal image of a king parrot, showing that the beak in yellow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419692/original/file-20210907-25-1cs73d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419692/original/file-20210907-25-1cs73d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419692/original/file-20210907-25-1cs73d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419692/original/file-20210907-25-1cs73d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419692/original/file-20210907-25-1cs73d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419692/original/file-20210907-25-1cs73d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419692/original/file-20210907-25-1cs73d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thermal image of a king parrot, showing that the beak is warmer than the rest of the body.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexandra McQueen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Which animals are changing?</h2>
<p>We found most documented examples of shape-shifting involve birds – specifically, increases in beak size. </p>
<p>This includes several species of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12499">Australian parrots</a>. Studies show the beak size of gang-gang cockatoos and red-rumped parrots has increased by between 4% and 10% since since 1871.</p>
<p>Mammal appendages are also increasing in size. For example, in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2005.00976.x">masked shrew</a>, tail and leg length have increased significantly since 1950. And in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyz161">great roundleaf bat</a>, wing size increased by 1.64% over the same period.</p>
<p>The variety of examples indicates shape-shifting is happening in different types of appendages and in a variety of animals, in many parts of the world. But more studies are needed to determine which kinds of animals are most affected.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-shy-little-wallaby-has-a-white-moustache-and-shares-its-name-with-a-pub-meal-yet-its-been-overlooked-for-decades-164326">This shy little wallaby has a white moustache and shares its name with a pub meal. Yet it's been overlooked for decades</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="parrot in grass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419563/original/file-20210906-27-1mcqqbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419563/original/file-20210906-27-1mcqqbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419563/original/file-20210906-27-1mcqqbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419563/original/file-20210906-27-1mcqqbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419563/original/file-20210906-27-1mcqqbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419563/original/file-20210906-27-1mcqqbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419563/original/file-20210906-27-1mcqqbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A red-rumped parrot, one of the species shown to increase beak size in response to climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ryan Barnaby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other uses of appendages</h2>
<p>Of course, animal appendages have uses far beyond regulating body temperature. This means scientists have sometimes focused on other reasons that might explain changes in animal body shape.</p>
<p>For example, studies have shown the average beak size of the Galapagos medium ground finch has changed over time in response to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128374">seed size</a>, which is in turn influenced by rainfall. Our research examined <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2290">previously collected data</a> to determine if temperature also influenced changes in beak size of these finches. </p>
<p>These data do demonstrate rainfall (and, by extension, seed size) determines beak size. After drier summers, survival of small-beaked birds was reduced. </p>
<p>But we found clear evidence that birds with smaller beaks are also less likely to survive hotter summers. This effect on survival was stronger than that observed with rainfall. This tells us the role of temperature may be as important as other uses of appendages, such as feeding, in driving changes in appendage size.</p>
<p>Our research also suggests we can make some predictions about which species are most likely to change appendage size in response to increasing temperatures – namely, those that adhere to Allen’s rule. </p>
<p>These include (with some caveats) starlings, song sparrows, and a host of seabirds and small mammals, such as South American gracile opossums.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="an opossum on a branch" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419698/original/file-20210907-25-da3zud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419698/original/file-20210907-25-da3zud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419698/original/file-20210907-25-da3zud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419698/original/file-20210907-25-da3zud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419698/original/file-20210907-25-da3zud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419698/original/file-20210907-25-da3zud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419698/original/file-20210907-25-da3zud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gracile opossum is among the animals most likely to change appendage size under climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-name-the-26-australian-frogs-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-by-2040-and-how-to-save-them-166339">We name the 26 Australian frogs at greatest risk of extinction by 2040 — and how to save them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why does shape-shifting matter?</h2>
<p>Our research contributes to scientific understanding of how wildlife will respond to climate change. Apart from improving our capacity to predict the impacts of climate change, this will enable us to identify which species are most vulnerable and require conservation priority.</p>
<p>Last month’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-says-earth-will-reach-temperature-rise-of-about-1-5-in-around-a-decade-but-limiting-any-global-warming-is-what-matters-most-165397">report</a> by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed we have very little time to avert catastrophic global warming.</p>
<p>While our research shows some animals are adapting to climate change, many will not. For example, some birds may have to maintain a particular diet which means they cannot change their beak shape. Other animals may simply not be able to evolve in time.</p>
<p>So while predicting how wildlife will respond to climate change is important, the best way to protect species into the future is to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent as much global warming as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Symonds receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Ryding does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Shape shifting’ animals are evolving to deal with heat – by changing the size of their ears, tails, bills and other appendages.Sara Ryding, PhD Candidate, Deakin UniversityMatthew Symonds, Associate professor, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1663392021-08-19T23:01:20Z2021-08-19T23:01:20ZWe name the 26 Australian frogs at greatest risk of extinction by 2040 — and how to save them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416907/original/file-20210819-13-vseajg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1191%2C797&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Spotted tree frog</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Williams/Its A Wildlife Photography</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia is home to more than <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/frogs">240 frog species</a>, most of which occur nowhere else. Unfortunately, some frogs are beyond help, with four Australian species officially <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna#frogs_extinct">listed</a> as extinct. </p>
<p>This includes two remarkable species of gastric-brooding frog. To reproduce, gastric-brooding frogs swallowed their fertilised eggs, and later regurgitated tiny baby frogs. Their reproduction was unique in the animal kingdom, and now they are gone.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21019">Our new study</a> published today, <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/mlej5mfz/2-1-the-australian-frogs-most-at-risk-of-extinction-and-the-actions-needed-to-save-them-ff_v9.pdf">identified the 26 Australian frogs</a> at greatest risk, the likelihood of their extinctions by 2040 and the steps needed to save them. </p>
<p>Tragically, we have identified an additional three frog species that are very likely to be extinct. Another four species on our list are still surviving, but not likely to make it to 2040 without help.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416914/original/file-20210819-15-lu80h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">#1 The northern gastric-brooding frog (<em>Rheobatrachus vitellinus</em>) is likely already extinct, primarily due to chytrid fungus disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hal Cogger</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The 26 most imperilled frogs</h2>
<p>The striking yellow-spotted tree frog (in southeast Australia), the northern tinker frog and the mountain mist frog (both in Far North Queensland) are not yet officially listed as extinct – but are very likely to be so. We estimated there is a greater than 90% chance they are already extinct.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416943/original/file-20210819-19-yp23a9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The locations of the top 26 Australian frogs at risk of extinction. ** Species likely to be recently extinct. * Species more likely than not to become extinct by 2040 unless there is action.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jaana Dielenberg/Threatened Species Recovery Hub</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The next four most imperilled species are hanging on in the wild by their little frog fingers: the southern corroboree frog and Baw Baw frog in the Australian Alps, and the Kroombit tinker frog and armoured mist frog in Queensland’s rainforests. </p>
<p>The southern corroboree frog, for example, was formerly found throughout Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains. But today, there’s only one small wild population known to exist, due largely to an introduced disease. </p>
<p>Without action it is more likely than not (66% chance) the southern corroboree frog will become extinct by 2040. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416909/original/file-20210819-23-1kw1f78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">#6 The southern corroboree frog (<em>Pseudophryne corroboree</em>) is close to extinction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Hunter/DPIE NSW</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416918/original/file-20210819-25-jh3xf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">#3 The yellow-spotted tree frog (<em>Litoria castanea</em>) is likely extinct. It was once common throughout the New England Tableland and Southern Tablelands region in NSW, and the ACT. It is sensitive to chytrid fungus disease and also impacted by climate change, habitat loss and invasive fish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Hunter/DPIE NSW</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are we up against?</h2>
<p>Species are suffering from a range of threats. But for our most recent extinctions and those now at greatest risk, the biggest cause of declines is the amphibian <a href="https://theconversation.com/deadly-frog-fungus-has-wiped-out-90-species-and-threatens-hundreds-more-113846">chytrid fungus disease</a>.</p>
<p>This introduced fungus is thought to have arrived in Australia in the 1970s and has taken a heavy toll on susceptible species ever since. Cool wet environments, such as rainforest-topped mountains in Queensland where frog diversity is particularly high, favour the pathogen. </p>
<p>The fungus feeds on the keratin in frogs’ skin — a major organ that plays a vital role in regulating moisture, exchanging respiratory gases, immunity, and producing sunscreen-like substances and chemicals to deter predators. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dead frog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416920/original/file-20210819-19-1lyzi6i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chrytrid disease killed this green-eyed tree frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robert Puschendorf</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416922/original/file-20210819-13-zqpini.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">#8 Armoured mist frog (<em>Litoria lorica</em>) populations have been decimated by chytrid fungus disease. It has been lost throughout former mountainous rainforest habitats where the fungus thrives. Without effective action, it’s likely to be extinct within 20 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Conrad Hoskin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another major emerging threat is <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/dyie020g/4-1-6-1-testing-assisted-gene-flow-for-terrestrial-breeding-frogs-in-a-drying-climate-ff_v8-1.pdf">climate change</a>, which heats and dries out moist habitats. It’s affecting 19 of the imperilled species we identified, such as the <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/wiyp3hek/4-1-4-3-white-bellied-frogs-findings-factsheet_v4.pdf">white-bellied frog</a> in Western Australia, which develops tadpoles in little depressions in waterlogged soil.</p>
<p>Climate change is also increasing the frequency, extent and intensity of fires, which have <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/srzerc1y/8-1-3-post-fire-impact-assessment-for-priority-frogs_v6.pdf">impacted</a> half (13) of the identified species in recent years. The Black Summer fires <a href="https://theconversation.com/click-through-the-tragic-stories-of-119-species-still-struggling-after-black-summer-in-this-interactive-and-how-to-help-131025">ravaged swathes of habitat</a> where fires should rarely occur, such as mossy alpine wetlands inhabited by the northern corroboree frog. </p>
<p>Invasive species impact ten frog species. For the <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/yzmc0can/1-4-1-little-brown-things-project-report_web_final.pdf">spotted tree frog</a> in southern Australia, introduced fish such as brown and rainbow trout are the main problem, as they’re aggressive predators of tadpoles. In northern Australia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-most-damaging-invasive-species-on-earth-wild-pigs-release-the-same-emissions-as-1-million-cars-each-year-163250">feral pigs</a> often wreak havoc on delicate habitats.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416935/original/file-20210819-25-z1g7p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">#15 The Kuranda tree frog (Litoria myola) is found in a very small area near Cairns. Its primary threat is loss and degradation of habitat due to development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Conrad Hoskin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416934/original/file-20210819-27-1oyxa9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">#20 The white-bellied frog (<em>Geocrinia alba</em>) is the Western Australian frog at greatest risk of extinction. The tadpoles of this tiny terrestrial breeding frog rely on wet soil to develop. Reduced rainfall is contributing to declines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Emily Hoffmann</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what can we do about it?</h2>
<p>We identified the <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/mlej5mfz/2-1-the-australian-frogs-most-at-risk-of-extinction-and-the-actions-needed-to-save-them-ff_v9.pdf">key actions</a> that can feasibly be implemented in time to save these species. This includes finding potential refuge sites from chytrid and from climate change, reducing bushfire risks and reducing impacts of introduced species. </p>
<p>But for many species, these actions alone aren’t enough. Given the perilous state of some species in the wild, captive conservation breeding programs are also needed. But they cannot be the end goal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416927/original/file-20210819-25-1vmhmo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">#11 A northern corroboree frog in the captive breeding program run by the ACT Government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Taylor/Threatened Species Recovery Hub</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Captive breeding programs can not only establish insurance populations, they can also help a species persist in the wild by supplying frogs to establish populations <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/0mfblnd1/3-3-6-recommendations-for-conservation-translocations-of-australian-frogs-guidelines-report_v2.pdf">at new suitable sites</a>.</p>
<p>Boosting numbers in existing wild populations with captive bred frogs improves their chance of survival. Not only are there more frogs, but also greater genetic diversity. This means the frogs have a better chance of adapting to new conditions, including climate change and emerging diseases. </p>
<p>Our knowledge of how to breed frogs in captivity has improved dramatically in recent decades, but we need to invest in doing this for more frog species.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UDwU9JR1vM8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Please save these frogs: The 26 Australian species at greatest risk of extinction.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Finding and creating wild refuges</h2>
<p>Another vital way to help threatened frogs persist in the wild is by protecting, creating and expanding natural refuge areas. Refuges are places where major threats are eliminated or reduced enough to allow a population to survive long term.</p>
<p>For the spotted-tree frog, <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/isaj34v5/1-4-1-recreational-fishers-spotted-tree-frog-recovery-community-factsheet_v7.pdf">work is underway</a> to prevent the destruction of frog breeding habitat by deer, and to prevent tadpoles being eaten by introduced predatory fish species. These actions will also help many other frog species as well. </p>
<p>The chytrid fungus can’t be controlled, but fortunately it does not thrive in all environments. For example, in the warmer parts of species’ range, pathogen virulence may be lower and frog resilience may be higher. </p>
<p>Chytrid fungus completely wiped out the armoured mist frog from its cool, wet heartland in the uplands of the Daintree Rainforest. But, a small population was found surviving at a warmer, more open site where the chytrid fungus is less virulent. Conservation for this species now focuses on these warmer sites.</p>
<p>This strategy is now being used to identify potential refuges from chytrid for other frog species, such as the <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/kc2kgglz/3-3-6-adaptive-reintroduction-strategies-for-the-critically-endangered-northern-corroboree-frog-report_v2b.pdf">northern corroboree frog</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416936/original/file-20210819-19-wrhd0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dr Graeme Gillespie during a survey for the spotted-tree frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Williams/Its A Wildlife Photography</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No time to lose</h2>
<p>We missed the window to save the gastric-brooding frogs, but we should heed their cautionary tale. We are on the cusp of losing many more unique species. </p>
<p>Decline can happen so rapidly that, for many species, there is no time to lose. Apart from the unknown ecological consequences of their extinctions, the intrinsic value of these frogs means their losses will diminish our natural legacy.</p>
<p>In raising awareness of these species we hope we will spark new action to save them. Unfortunately, despite persisting and evolving independently for millions of years, some species can now no longer survive without our help. </p>
<p><iframe id="QagtR" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/QagtR/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166339/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graeme Gillespie is employed by the NT Government, and is the President of the Australian Society Herpetologists.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research has been funded at various points by: Queensland Government Community Sustainability Action Grant, National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Grant, Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hayley Geyle receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program through the Threatened Species Recovery Hub.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaana Dielenberg works for the Threatened Species Recovery Hub which receives funding from the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola Mitchell receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program through the Threatened Species Recovery Hub, and is a member of the Commonwealth Threatened Species Scientific Committee.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Garnett receives funding from the National Environment Science Program Threatened Species Recovery hub</span></em></p>We’ve identified three frog species very likely to already be extinct. Another four species on our list are still surviving, but not likely to make it to 2040 without help.Graeme Gillespie, Honorary Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneConrad Hoskin, Lecturer/ABRS Postdoctoral Fellow, James Cook UniversityHayley Geyle, Research Assistant, Charles Darwin UniversityJaana Dielenberg, University Fellow, Charles Darwin UniversityNicola Mitchell, Associate Professor in Conservation Physiology, The University of Western AustraliaStephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1651762021-07-28T19:57:18Z2021-07-28T19:57:18ZDead, shrivelled frogs are unexpectedly turning up across eastern Australia. We need your help to find out why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413449/original/file-20210728-18-rfnyb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C1769%2C1172&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Green Tree Frog </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past few weeks, we’ve received a flurry of emails from concerned people who’ve seen sick and dead frogs across eastern Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. </p>
<p>One person wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>About a month ago, I noticed the Green Tree Frogs living around our home showing signs of lethargy & ill health. I was devastated to find about 7 of them dead. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We previously had a very healthy population of green tree frogs and a couple of months ago I noticed a frog that had turned brown. I then noticed more of them and have found numerous dead frogs around our property. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>And another said she’d seen so many dead frogs on her daily runs she had to “seriously wonder how many more are there”.</p>
<p>So what’s going on? The short answer is: we don’t really know. How many frogs have died and why is a mystery, and we’re relying on people across Australia to help us solve it. </p>
<h2>Why are frogs important?</h2>
<p>Frogs are an integral part of healthy Australian ecosystems. While they are usually small and unseen, they’re an important thread in the food web, and a kind of environmental glue that keeps ecosystems functioning. Healthy frog populations are usually a good indication of a healthy environment.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413464/original/file-20210728-23-djqwqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The stony creek frog is one of the species hit by this mysterious outbreak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They eat vast amounts of invertebrates, including pest species, and they’re a fundamental food source for a wide variety of other wildlife, including birds, mammals and reptiles. Tadpoles fill our creeks and dams, helping keep algae and mosquito larvae under control while they too become food for fish and other wildlife. </p>
<p>But many of Australia’s frog populations are imperilled from multiple, compounding threats, such as habitat loss and modification, climate change, invasive plants, animals and diseases.</p>
<p>Although we’re fortunate to have <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/frogs">at least 242 native frog species in Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl">35 are considered threatened with extinction</a>. At least four are considered extinct: the southern and northern gastric-brooding frogs (<em>Rheobatrachus silus</em> and <em>Rheobatrachus vitellinus</em>), the sharp-snouted day frog (<em>Taudactylus acutirostris</em>) and the southern day frog (<em>Taudactylus diurnus</em>).</p>
<h2>A truly unusual outbreak</h2>
<p>In most circumstances, it’s rare to see a dead frog. Most frogs are secretive in nature and, when they die, they decompose rapidly. So the growing reports of dead and dying frogs from across eastern Australia over the last few months are surprising, to say the least. </p>
<p>While the first cold snap of each year can be accompanied by a few localised frog deaths, this outbreak has affected more animals over a greater range than previously encountered. </p>
<p>This is truly an unusual amphibian mass mortality event.</p>
<p>In this outbreak, frogs appear to be either darker or lighter than normal, slow, out in the daytime (they’re usually nocturnal), and are thin. Some frogs have red bellies, red feet, and excessive sloughed skin.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A browned, shrivelled green tree frog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413451/original/file-20210728-15-1p9m9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A browned, shrivelled green tree frog (<em>Litoria caerulea</em>)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Suzanne Mcgovern</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The iconic green tree frog (<em>Litoria caeulea</em>) seems hardest hit in this event, with the often apple-green and plump frogs turning brown and shrivelled. </p>
<p>This frog is widespread and generally rather common. In fact, it’s the ninth most commonly recorded frog in the national citizen science project, <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/">FrogID</a>. But it has <a href="https://australian.museum/blog/amri-news/aussie-green-tree-frog-disappearing-act/">disappeared from parts of its former range</a>. </p>
<p>Other species reported as being among the sick and dying include Peron’s tree frog (<em>Litoria peronii</em>), the Stony Creek frog (<em>Litoria lesueuri</em>), and green stream frog (<em>Litoria phyllochroa</em>). These are all relatively common and widespread species, which is likely why they have been found in and around our gardens. </p>
<p>We simply don’t know the true impacts of this event on Australia’s frog species, particularly those that are rare, cryptic or living in remote places. Well over 100 species of frog live within the geographic range of this outbreak. Dozens of these are considered threatened, including the booroolong Frog (<em>Litoria booroolongensis</em>) and the giant barred frog (<em>Mixophyes iteratus</em>).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413466/original/file-20210728-23-1p8mmea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The giant barred frog is a threatened species that lives in the geographic range of this outbreak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what might be going on?</h2>
<p>Amphibians are susceptible to environmental toxins and a wide range of parasitic, bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens. Frogs globally have been battling it out with a pandemic of their own for decades — a potentially deadly fungus often called amphibian <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-fungus-threatens-to-wipe-out-100-frog-species-heres-how-it-can-be-stopped-117842">chytrid fungus</a>. </p>
<p>This fungus attacks the skin, which frogs use to breathe, drink, and control electrolytes important for the heart to function. It’s also responsible for causing population declines in more than <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6434/1459.editor-summary">500 amphibian species around the world</a>, and 50 extinctions. </p>
<p>For example, in Australia the bright yellow and black southern corroboree frog (<em>Pseudophryne corroboree</em>) is just hanging on in the wild, thanks only to <a href="https://taronga.org.au/animals/corroboree-frog">intensive management and captive breeding</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413465/original/file-20210728-27-1b98yd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The teeny tiny southern corroborree frogs have been hit hard by the chytrid fungus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Curiously, some other frog species appear more tolerant to the amphibian chytrid fungus than others. Many now common frogs seem able to live with the fungus, such as the near-ubiquitous Australian common eastern froglet (<em>Crinia signifera</em>). </p>
<p>But if frogs have had this fungus affecting them for decades, why are we seeing so many dead frogs now? </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-fungus-threatens-to-wipe-out-100-frog-species-heres-how-it-can-be-stopped-117842">A deadly fungus threatens to wipe out 100 frog species – here's how it can be stopped</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>Well, disease is the outcome of a battle between a pathogen (in this case a fungus), a host (in this case the frog) and the environment. The fungus doesn’t do well in warm, dry conditions. So during summer, frogs are more likely to have the upper hand. </p>
<p>In winter, the tables turn. As the frog’s immune system slows, the fungus may be able to take hold.</p>
<p>Of course, the amphibian chytrid fungus is just one possible culprit. Other less well-known diseases affect frogs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413471/original/file-20210728-25-1sae106.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The near-ubiquitous Austrlaian common eastern froglet is one species that seems able to live with the devastating chytrid fungus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To date, the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health has confirmed the presence of the amphibian chytrid fungus in a very small number of sick frogs they’ve examined from the recent outbreak. However, other diseases — such as ranavirus, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0018871">myxosporean parasites</a> and <a href="https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-04325-6">trypanosome parasites</a> — have also been responsible for native frog mass mortality events in Australia. </p>
<p>It’s also possible a novel or exotic pathogen could be behind this. So the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health is working with the Australian Museum, government biosecurity and environment agencies as part of the investigation.</p>
<h2>Here’s how you can help</h2>
<p>While we suspect a combination of the amphibian chytrid fungus and the chilly temperatures, we simply don’t know what factors may be contributing to the outbreak. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413456/original/file-20210728-15-2onyty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Why green tree frogs are dying en masse is still a mystery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sophie Hendry</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also aren’t sure how widespread it is, what impact it will have on our frog populations, or how long it will last. </p>
<p>While the temperatures stay low, we suspect our frogs will continue to succumb. If we don’t investigate quickly, we will lose the opportunity to achieve a diagnosis and understand what has transpired.</p>
<p>We need your help to solve this mystery. </p>
<p>Please send any reports of sick or dead frogs (and if possible, photos) to us, via the national citizen science project <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/">FrogID</a>, or email <a href="mailto:calls@frogid.net.au">calls@frogid.net.au</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/clicks-bonks-and-dripping-taps-listen-to-the-calls-of-6-frogs-out-and-about-this-summer-150084">Clicks, bonks and dripping taps: listen to the calls of 6 frogs out and about this summer</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165176/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodi Rowley is the Lead Scientist of the Australian Museum's citizen science project, FrogID. She has received funding from the NSW Saving Our Species program and other state, federal and philanthopic agencies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karrie Rose leads the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health, a collaboration between Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the University of Sydney. The Registry is funded by Taronga Conservation Society Australia, service agreements and project-based funding from state, commonwealth and philanthropic agencies..</span></em></p>It’s typically rare to see a dead frog. Yet, we’ve received a flurry of emails from people coming across them in this truly unusual, and tragic, mass death event.Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, UNSW, Australian MuseumKarrie Rose, Australian Registry of Wildlife Health - Taronga Conservation Society Australia, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1564362021-03-04T16:17:44Z2021-03-04T16:17:44ZThis frog’s lungs act like noise cancelling headphones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387712/original/file-20210304-15-n1wg4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=133%2C110%2C3701%2C2473&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Clever frog.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-little-green-tree-frog-peeking-295358882">Shutterstock/Martin Valigursky</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For us humans, having a conversation in a crowded room is challenging – it’s often called the cocktail party problem. The mix of sounds arriving at our eardrums needs to be analysed to pick out the sounds of individual talkers and that’s a difficult task. </p>
<p>The neural computations involved in this kind of analysis are daunting and easily disrupted. Even a relatively minor hearing impairment, almost undetectable by standard clinical tests, leads to notable defects in being able to <a href="http://perspectivesinmedicine.cshlp.org/content/10/1/a035493.long">pick out individual voices</a>.</p>
<p>For many species of frogs, the auditory space is just as crowded as in our pre-pandemic cocktail parties. When male frogs call out, they are sharing space with thousands of other frogs – from their own and different species – each also calling at the same time. Within this cacophony of croaks, the female frogs must make the important choice of finding the right male for mating based on the quality of his call. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00113-5">Our new paper</a> shows frogs may have a simple yet elegant solution to this problem. The tree frog appears to use its lungs as a simple noise cancellation filter, enhancing the audibility of the species-specific calls and suppressing sounds made by other species. </p>
<h2>Frog eardrums</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A male tree frog with its throat inflating, making a call." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387722/original/file-20210304-17-1eo4xqv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387722/original/file-20210304-17-1eo4xqv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387722/original/file-20210304-17-1eo4xqv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387722/original/file-20210304-17-1eo4xqv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387722/original/file-20210304-17-1eo4xqv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387722/original/file-20210304-17-1eo4xqv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387722/original/file-20210304-17-1eo4xqv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tree frog calling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Norman Lee</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Frogs have two eardrums that pick up sounds, very much like our own eardrums. But in frogs the two eardrums can interact acoustically through the mouth cavity. This allows sound to reach both faces of the eardrum, and makes the ear inherently directional. However, sound can also enter the mouth cavity from the frogs’ own lungs.</p>
<p>While she is listening, a female frog’s lungs resonate at a certain frequency range depending on the volume of her lungs. These sounds are efficiently transmitted through the glottis – the opening between the vocal chords – to the mouth cavity. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-turned-a-golf-course-into-a-haven-for-rare-newts-frogs-and-toads-154578">How we turned a golf course into a haven for rare newts, frogs and toads</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This kind of transmission from the lungs into eardrums has been found in several species of frogs, but has been puzzling up until now. The call frequencies of all species studied so far never matched the frequency range of lung resonance, so any functional implication of the lung to ear transmission was obscure.</p>
<p>We measured the transmission of sound through both eardrums and lungs in female green tree frogs using laser vibrometry – a technique to measure the vibration of lungs and eardrum and local sound stimulation. This enabled us to “dissect” the sound components. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman leaning against a wall wearing a large pair of headphones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387720/original/file-20210304-13-16igvtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387720/original/file-20210304-13-16igvtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387720/original/file-20210304-13-16igvtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387720/original/file-20210304-13-16igvtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387720/original/file-20210304-13-16igvtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387720/original/file-20210304-13-16igvtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387720/original/file-20210304-13-16igvtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The frog’s lungs act like noise cancelling headphones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pretty-girl-listening-music-her-headphones-438996334">Shutterstock/Merla</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our measurements showed the sound component from the lung reduces eardrum motion – and hence sensitivity – in the frequency range where the lungs are most sensitive. In the green tree frog and many other species, this range is outside the frequencies of the species’ call. </p>
<p>This means the lung input is preventing “unwanted” sound from stimulating the ear – just like how a noise cancelling headphone quietens background noises by generating sound waves exactly out of phase with outside noises. This filtering is purely caused by passive acoustics, so it doesn’t require any neural processing.</p>
<h2>Ambient noise</h2>
<p>We then investigated the ambient noise generated by other frog species to determine the reason behind the the sound filtering. Here, we used a large database of surveys of frog populations in the US, collected through citizen science. The surveys showed 42 other species of frogs were reported to live in the same ponds as the green tree frog, all making noises at the same time of day.</p>
<p>When we studied each of the individual frog frequencies, we found the calls of the two most common species matched the frequency of the noise made by the tree frog lungs. This means the tree frog lung noises cancel out these calls the most. By doing this, the green tree frog can hear its own species call more clearly.</p>
<p>This is how we concluded the tree frog uses its lungs to filter out the background noise. By suppressing the calls of other species calls, as noise cancelling headphones suppress the outside noise, it enhances those from its own species.</p>
<p>This solution to the frog’s cocktail party problem has been worked out by co-opting existing structures – the lungs and mouth cavity – through evolutionary history. We don’t know how general this mechanism is in frogs, but we have seen a similar mismatch between lung resonance frequency and call frequency in several other species and guess that these species could use a similar mechanism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard receives funding from NSF, from the Carlsberg Foundation and from the University of Southern Denmark</span></em></p>The noise from the lungs drowns out other species’ calls, letting the females hear potential mates.Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard, associate professor in bioacoustics, University of Southern DenmarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1545782021-02-24T11:11:34Z2021-02-24T11:11:34ZHow we turned a golf course into a haven for rare newts, frogs and toads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385907/original/file-20210223-14-cnfbpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4992%2C3325&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/common-frog-rana-temporaria-single-reptile-167747600">Erni/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around two in five amphibian species are <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">threatened with extinction</a> around the world. In Britain, all of our native frog, toad and newt species have <a href="https://www.newnaturalists.com/products/amphibians-reptiles-collins-new-naturalist-library-book-87-9780007308620/">declined since 1945</a>, with one species – <a href="https://www.arc-trust.org/pool-frog">the pool frog</a> – dying out in the 1990s. Climate change, disease and invasive species all have a hand in this, but one of the greatest <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14739">pressures</a> facing amphibians is the loss of their habitat. As more land is developed for houses, roads and shops, those wild and marshy patches where amphibians thrive are scrubbed from maps.</p>
<p>Setting aside land in nature reserves can help protect biodiversity, though on their own, these islands of natural habitat cannot provide enough space to revive wider communities of wildlife. Since much of the UK’s land is <a href="https://www.countryfile.com/news/who-owns-england-history-of-englands-landownership-and-how-much-is-privately-owned-today/">in private hands</a>, conservationists need to think about how nature can be encouraged on land occupied by businesses, including farms, estates and golf courses.</p>
<p>We are two ecologists who are dedicated to restoring habitats for amphibians wherever we can. By working with land managers of all kinds, we’re figuring out how to repopulate modern landscapes with these creatures. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.</p>
<h2>Getting landowners onside</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most famous amphibians in literature are the unfortunate newts and frogs of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which end up in the witches’ brew on <a href="https://forreslocal.com/visiting/what-to-see-and-do-in-forres/macbeth/">Forres heath</a> in the Scottish Highlands. Over 400 years later, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-014-0863-7">our own research</a> has shown that populations of great-crested newts face a different kind of toil and trouble. </p>
<p>For centuries, ponds existed on British farmland to water livestock, which offered habitats for amphibians to breed in. But nowadays, sheep and cattle drink from troughs and many wetlands which once sustained wildlife have been drained to create timber plantations and golf courses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large and speckled newt on dry soil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Highland great-crested newt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David O’Brien</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Any plan to halt the decline of Britain’s amphibians must be compatible with different types of land use. So in 2014, we sat down with people working in forestry, farming and a local golf club to develop a plan for <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2688-8319.12038">restoring 25 ponds</a> in the Scottish Highlands, focusing on Forres and the areas around Inverness which have seen the greatest loss of ponds.</p>
<p>Rather than imposing rules on land managers, we talked with them about their interests and what they saw as important. Pride in their heritage and the opportunity to be seen as good stewards of the land were what most motivated those we spoke to. </p>
<p>One of the sites had been in the owner’s family since the 17th century, and the farmers felt a connection to their land and the wildlife that lived on it. “I may never notice the newts in the pond,” one said. “But I’m glad to know they’re there.”</p>
<p>The golf pro, who had grown up near the course where he now worked, remembered catching newts and tadpoles as a child and wanted his grandchildren to be able to see them too. He used his influence with the club committee to convince them that a pond wouldn’t just be good for nature, but would improve the appearance of the course. </p>
<p>The ground staff joined in to manage vegetation around the ponds to ensure places for the animals to feed outside of the breeding season. Whenever we now survey this pond for species, we’re greeted by golfers who’re proud of “their frogs and newts” and want to know how they’re doing.</p>
<h2>Creating the perfect pond</h2>
<p>We had permission to start restoring habitats on private land, but how can you tell if what you’re making is right for the species you’re trying to help? Luckily, we had a pretty good idea of what makes the perfect pond because we had 25 years’ worth of data gathered by citizen scientists, as well as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10750-016-3053-7">our own observations</a> of ponds filled with amphibians. </p>
<p>Everything from the slope of the nearby bank, the presence of fish and insects and the kind of plants which fringed the pool were carefully considered. We then designed ponds ideal for all five amphibian species native to the Scottish Highlands – the common frog, common toad, and smooth, palmate and great-crested newts.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A pond amid a boggy scrubland with trees in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">One of the first new ponds to be colonised, which now has breeding common frogs and three newt species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David O’Brien</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Newts rarely travel more than a few hundred metres, and if the nearest pond is further away or if there’s a barrier like a busy road, they won’t be able to move between ponds. This can lead to inbreeding and leave populations vulnerable to extinction. If a pond dries up for several breeding seasons then it won’t be recolonised once it’s refilled with water. For this reason, we restored former ponds and created new ones close to occupied ponds.</p>
<p><a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/2688-8319.12038">Five years on</a>, 24 out of the 25 ponds are inhabited by amphibians. After surveying our ponds and comparing them with 88 long-established ones in the area, we were delighted to find that not only were all five species breeding in them, including the locally rare great-crested newt, but on average our ponds held more species than the pre-existing ones. We’ve stayed in contact with all the land managers and they remain committed to conservation. </p>
<p>And the one pond with no amphibians? Unfortunately, an error led us to construct a pond that wasn’t quite right. But we accidentally created the perfect pond for a rare dragonfly called the white-faced darter instead. Now we can’t wait to find out what other species might have made our ponds their homes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David O'Brien works for NatureScot (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage) which funded part of this project alongside Forestry and Land Scotland.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Jehle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Britain’s native amphibians are in steep decline thanks to wetlands disappearing and ponds drying up.David O'Brien, PhD Candidate in Wildlife Biology, University of SalfordRobert Jehle, Reader in Population Biology, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1509992021-01-06T14:54:56Z2021-01-06T14:54:56ZHow tadpoles advance the African clawed frog invasion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373074/original/file-20201204-19-ytu42u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African clawed frog tadpoles in the laboratory. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Natasha Kruger</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The African clawed frog, a species native to southern Africa, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/invasive-tadpoles-can-recognise-potential-predators-in-new-environments-119673">one of the most successful invaders in the world</a>. Part of the reason is that it has been of particular interest to scientists for a long time.</p>
<p>This frog has had a long history in science since its original description in 1802. It is an atypical frog, with claws on its toes, and spends most of its time in water – unlike other frogs. This fascinated many researchers. They also realised these frogs are easy to maintain in captivity, and even breed under these conditions. So they were useful for dissection in science education and a model organism in physiology research. </p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26471494/">Lancelot Hogben</a>, a British biologist who visited Cape Town in 1927, found that this frog was extensively used in South African physiology departments. He discovered that female African clawed frogs can be used as a pregnancy test by injecting a woman’s urine into the frog. The gonadotrophin hormones in the urine of a pregnant woman would induce ovulation in the female frog, which would then lay eggs – a positive pregnancy test. This test was widely accepted and used globally <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/2/4067/1253">less than 100 years ago</a>. </p>
<p>Thousands of live frogs were exported around the world to use in laboratories, as dissection animals and for pregnancy testing. More recently they have been widely exported as pets too. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this frog did not stay in captivity. It has been deliberately and accidentally released into the wild in places where it’s not a native species.</p>
<p>Wild populations of the African clawed frog have been discovered in the US, the UK, Europe and southern America. Not only have these populations been established, they have overcome dispersal barriers in their new environments and started to invade. </p>
<p>These frogs can move overland between ponds and rivers for several kilometres. Adults can eat a range of prey items. They compete with native amphibians and prey on them. They are also very adaptable in the new environment. For example, invasive tadpoles of the African clawed frog can recognise and respond to novel predators. This adaptability and competitive ability seems to be contributing to their invasion success. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/invasive-tadpoles-can-recognise-potential-predators-in-new-environments-119673">Invasive tadpoles can recognise potential predators in new environments</a>
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<p>Understanding the traits which appear to favour or limit the species’ invasion potential can guide measures to control and eradicate it. One aspect that biologists don’t know much about yet is the impact of tadpoles on the invasion potential.</p>
<p>We therefore set out to address this gap in our knowledge. We <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa191">studied</a> a population in western France and made an unexpected finding. Rapid adaptations in adult frogs were not reducing the survival success of tadpoles. This suggests that not just adult frogs but tadpoles should be targets for control as they can influence the invasion potential of this population. </p>
<h2>The invasive population in western France</h2>
<p>The introduction history of this population in the Deux-Sèvres department is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/157075606775904722">well studied</a>. African clawed frogs were released from a breeding facility near the town of Saumur when it closed down in the 1980s. The population has since then spread to cover an area of about 4,500km². </p>
<p>Previous <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12548">studies</a> have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blx048">found</a> that the adults at the introduction point differ from adults found at the expanding population edge. Adults at the periphery were found to have longer hind limbs in relation to their bodies. This may improve their swimming performance and endurance. And the relative mass of their reproductive organs is smaller. These differences – which have evolved in just 40 years – suggest that they are allocating fewer resources to reproduction and more to dispersal. </p>
<p>But little is known about how adaptations in adults affect other life stages such as tadpoles and whether other life stages may limit their dispersal capacity at the edge.</p>
<p>In some frog species, tadpole and adult traits can be coupled. Carryover effects from the development of tadpoles can influence adult size and reproduction, for instance. Trade-offs in resources in adults can affect egg size, clutch size and ultimately tadpole development. The hypothesis was therefore that the African clawed tadpoles in France might be influenced by adaptations in adults and that the tadpole populations at the periphery might be more vulnerable than those at the core.</p>
<p>We studied this by comparing traits of tadpoles from the core and the periphery of the population. These traits included the body size of the tadpoles, the time they took to reach metamorphosis and their survival rate. For instance, it’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603562103">known</a> that a shorter tadpole period usually decreases <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/cr00878">hind limb length</a>. So we expected to find that tadpoles at the periphery would have a longer tadpole period than those at the core. That longer period might expose the tadpoles to unfamiliar threats at the population periphery. Identifying vulnerable points in the species’ life cycle might provide an opportunity for control and eradication.</p>
<p>But what we found was not what we’d predicted. Tadpoles at the core did not differ from tadpoles at the periphery in terms of size, time to metamorphosis and survival. This indicates that adaptations in adults do not affect tadpole stages. The traits are not coupled. </p>
<p>The changes in adults that allow them to disperse better don’t seem to have a negative effect on tadpoles at the periphery. The tadpoles can function and survive as normal, while adults are changing to increase their dispersal rate. Also, tadpole development does not seem to constrain adult traits. This may ultimately increase the invasion potential of these frogs in this area. </p>
<p>The rapid adaptation in adults at the periphery and the decoupling of traits between life stages presents a challenge to the control of this invader in France. Current strategies mainly focus on the removal of adults. Our study highlights that other life stages such as tadpoles should be targets for control or eradication too as they can affect the invasion potential of this population.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150999/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Kruger receives funding from the DSI-NRF Centre of excellence for Invasion Biology, Ambassade de France en Afrique du Sud (France). This study was part of the project Life Control stRategies Of Alien invasive Amphibians (CROAA)—LIFE15
NAT/FR/000864 funded by the Life program of the European Commission. . She is affiliated with Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa and Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR 5023 LEHNA, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.</span></em></p>Tadpoles at the edge of the population are no more vulnerable than those at the centre.Natasha Kruger, Postdoctoral fellow, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1500842020-12-27T20:41:30Z2020-12-27T20:41:30ZClicks, bonks and dripping taps: listen to the calls of 6 frogs out and about this summer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375033/original/file-20201215-15-1t44go5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C35%2C5910%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The banjo frog, _Limnodynastes dumerilii_ </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Environmental scientists see flora, fauna and phenomena the rest of us rarely do. In this series, we’ve invited them to share their unique <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/photos-from-the-field-92499">photos from the field</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Frog calls are iconic sounds of summer in Australia. There are <a href="https://portal.frogid.net.au/frogs">more than 240 species</a> native to Australia, almost all of which are found nowhere else on Earth.</p>
<p>While some of Australia’s frog species prefer the cooler months, spring and summer are the best times to see and hear the majority of them. This is particularly true in tropical Australia, where most frog species only emerge from their hiding places in the wet season, filling summer nights with their choruses. </p>
<p>Most of us will hear frogs before we see them. In all Australian frog species, male frogs call to attract female frogs to mate with. Each species has a unique advertisement call, so you don’t need to see a frog to identify it.</p>
<p>Males typically call from near water bodies, where they hope to breed, and call mostly at night, preferring to shelter in the heat of the day. As a result, the best place to encounter frogs is near a water body such as a pond, creek or wetland, and the best time is after dark. </p>
<p>This article contains recordings of six unique frog calls. Depending where you live, you might just hear one on a quiet, summer night. But first, let’s explore why frogs are so important to our ecosystems.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-recorded-frog-calls-on-their-smartphones-after-the-bushfires-and-the-results-are-remarkable-146578">Australians recorded frog calls on their smartphones after the bushfires – and the results are remarkable</a>
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<h2>From rainforests to deserts</h2>
<p>Frogs are exquisitely adapted to almost all kinds of habitats in Australia, from rainforests to deserts. In some of the wettest forests, some frogs such as the northern ornate nursery frog (<em>Cophixalus ornatus</em>) have done away with the need for tadpoles, developing into tiny frogs in the egg. </p>
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<span class="caption">The stonemason toadlet, <em>Uperoleia lithomoda</em></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jodi Rowley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>In the driest parts of Australia, where it doesn’t rain for months at a time, frog species such as the eastern water-holding frog (<em>Cyclorana platycephala</em>) spend most of their lives underground. These frogs are protected from dehydration by a “cocoon” of their own skin and skin secretions. They only pop above the surface when it’s wet enough for them to breed in the flood waters. </p>
<p>While many species are common, more than 30 are <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl">threatened with extinction</a>. On top of that, we’ve already lost at least four species — part of out natural heritage, gone forever. </p>
<p>The major frog threats are disease (particularly <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/publications/factsheet-chytridiomycosis-amphibian-chytrid-fungus-disease">chytridiomycosis</a>, caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus), habitat loss and modification, introduced species and climate change. </p>
<p>We should care that our frogs are disappearing, as they are an important part of healthy ecosystems. Frogs are major consumers of invertebrates, and are also eaten by a wide array of predators including fish, birds and mammals. Tadpoles may also be the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10021-012-9602-7">dominant grazers in aquatic systems</a>, helping keep streams from clogging up with algae. When frogs disappear, other animals follow, and ecosystems are forever altered.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-fungus-threatens-to-wipe-out-100-frog-species-heres-how-it-can-be-stopped-117842">A deadly fungus threatens to wipe out 100 frog species – here's how it can be stopped</a>
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<p>When meeting your local frogs, be careful not to disturb them or their habitat, and <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/publications/hygiene-protocols-control-diseases-australian-frogs">clean your shoes</a> if going to more than one area of frog habitat so you don’t accidentally spread frog disease. One of the best ways to learn about your local frogs, and to help understand and conserve them, is by recording their calls using the free <a href="http://frogid.net.au/">FrogID</a> app. </p>
<p>Here are some of the frog species you are likely to hear, and maybe even see, this summer. </p>
<h2>1. Peron’s tree frog</h2>
<p>Peron’s tree frog (<em>Litoria peronii</em>) is a large frog species that can be found in southern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and southeastern South Australia. </p>
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<p>With cream to dark grey skin flecked with tiny emerald spots, cross-shaped pupils, and a loud, laugh-like call, this frog species is very commonly encountered around our homes — often hiding in pot plants, watering cans or even our letterboxes.</p>
<h2>2. Motorbike frog</h2>
<p>While the haunting call of the moaning frog (<em>Heleioporus eyrei</em>) fills autumn and winter nights around Perth, the motorbike frog (<em>Litoria moorei</em>) makes up a large part of Perth’s summer soundtrack. </p>
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<p>Common in backyards throughout the southwest of Western Australia, this species is named after its drawn-out call, resembling an old motorbike racing up the street, changing gears. </p>
<p>This large tree frog, variably marbled with green and gold, often basks in the sun on reeds during the day. </p>
<h2>3. Striped marsh frog</h2>
<p>The striped marsh frog (<em>Limnodynastes peronii</em>) is commonly heard but rarely seen throughout its range along eastern Australia from north Queensland to Tasmania, and into the eastern edge of South Australia. </p>
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<p>Its call is familiar to many, resembling a tennis ball being hit, or a dripping tap. This species loves backyard ponds, and is found even in the most built-up areas of cities, creating foamy nests for their eggs after a successful night of calling. </p>
<p>Adults have smooth, striped brown skin, and long, spidery toes. Males can be distinguished by females as they have much more robust arms.</p>
<h2>4. Banjo frog</h2>
<p>Banjo frogs occur throughout much of Australia, with a familiar loud “bonk” call, somewhat resembling the pluck of a banjo string reverberating from dams, wetlands and slow-flowing sections of streams and rivers. </p>
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<p>During dry times, banjo frogs bury themselves underground, emerging after, or sometimes just before, summer rains. They are large, rather solid, frogs with a round snout, and are <a href="https://australian.museum/blog/amri-news/how-can-you-tell-the-difference-between-a-cane-toad-and-a-native-australian-frog-species">often mistaken</a> for cane toads. </p>
<p>There are four species of banjo frog. In the southeast, the eastern banjo frog (<em>Limnodynastes dumerilii</em>) is very common, particularly in farm dams. Meanwhile, the northern banjo frog (<em>Limnodynastes terraereginae</em>) lives in northern NSW and throughout much of Queensland. </p>
<p>The giant banjo frog (<em>Limnodynastes interioris</em>) can be found in inland NSW and Victoria, and the western banjo frog (<em>Limnodynastes dorsalis</em>) is found in southwestern Western Australia.</p>
<h2>5. Stonemason toadlet</h2>
<p>The stonemason toadlet (<em>Uperoleia lithomoda</em>) is a tiny brownish-grey burrowing frog found across the top of Australia: in north Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. </p>
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<p>This species emerges from underground after heavy monsoonal rains, and males produces an extraordinarily loud call that sounds like a harsh “click”. </p>
<p>With bumpy skin, they resemble toads enough to be called “toadlets”, and are often mistaken for young cane toads (<em>Rhinella marina</em>).</p>
<h2>6. Eastern dwarf tree frog</h2>
<p>The eastern dwarf tree frog (<em>Litoria fallax</em>) is highly adaptable and usually found along the east coast, from north Queensland to the borders of NSW and Victoria. </p>
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<p>In recent years, it has also established populations in Victoria, well outside its native range, <a href="http://www.herpconbio.org/Volume_14/Issue_1/Rowley_etal_2019.pdf">likely as a result of hitchhiking on produce or nursery plants</a>. </p>
<p>Like the motorbike frog, the eastern dwarf tree frog is often seen during the day, basking in the sun, and will even call during the day on vegetation far from water.</p>
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<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CI2EZThhThU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodi Rowley is the Lead Scientist of the Australian Museum's citizen science project, FrogID.</span></em></p>Not all frogs ‘ribbit’ — some sound like a motorbike changing gears or a tennis ball being hit. This summer, keep your eyes and ears out for these Aussie frogs.Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian MuseumLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.