"That leaves all these other amphibians out there alive. Problem is, they are still there, but there are no hard numbers, and no country in the world right now has the ability for people to talk about the numbers or changes in numbers. There is no Bureau of Census for frogs or toads that allows countries to say that the common toad has declined 50 percent, because nobody has been keeping the numbers," He said.

Reasons why our amphibians are disappearing and mutating?

"We've heard the gamut, from the United Nations to black helicopters, but there are some identified causes." They are:

Wetland drainage.

The problem here is obvious. Amphibians thrive in wetlands and need water to reproduce. Wetland loss is especially critical in western states where the amphibian decline has been most pronounced.

 

Excessive Ultra Violet radiation from the sun due to ozone depletion.

Amphibian eggs in water are highly senstive to UV radiation. UV radiation is thought to be what has caused widespread deformities in young frogs in Minn.

 

Introduced fish.

Fisheries biologists often stock fish in lakes and ponds where they find no fish.

 

"Fish eat tadpoles," said Droege. "Our biologists were looking at Alpine lakes in the west that had disappearing amphibian popualtions. One researcher came across two guys who were state fisheries biologists. They go to these ponds and look for tadpoles...if they find a lot, they put more fish in the lake. They use tadpoles as an indication that it needs fish."

 

Agricultural chemicals, including pestitides, herbicides and fertilizers.

Fertilizers kill amphibians when they run off a field and into a pond. Nutient levels build, blue-green algae blooms and amphibians die from lack of oxygen.

 

"Again, we have places where all these factors have played, but there are others where we haven't identified any cause. It is outrageously complex, and we don't have numbers to talk about populations. We do know things are collapsing in the West. In the East, all the species are stil there, but we know nothing at all about population numbers," continued the biologist.

This is one reason for the national monitoring program which Droege chaperones over the Internet.

"Our involvement is at the level to redirect volunteers. The NBS is not in the financial position to run surveys," Droge continued.

In fact, it is fortunate that Droege is able to do his job at all. The U.S. Biological Survey no longer exists. It was smashed by the "Kill Mother Nature" Congress. NBS's remnants were absorbed by the National Geological Survey.

While Congressional dupes argued the NBS should be dissolved in order to save money, the real reasons are more sinister.

Science, especially biological science, has become the "enemy" of corporate America, especially big-time Agri-business and western ranchers and loggers.

Why?

Because, biologists find too many species in trouble, and it was through the NBS that endangered species were identified and listed. Endangered species "get in the way" of business, and that could not be tolerated by the land rapists who provide the money that elects America's bought-and-paid-for politicians. Not only did corporate America's lackeys in Congress dissolve the NBS, they also demanded and got a moratorium on listing new endangered species. In effect, this course has the federal government turning a blind eye towards declining species of all kinds so that farmers and industries can poison wetlands, loggers can clear cut where they want and developers can "condo-ize" sensitive habitat without worrying about endangered plants and animals.

The National Wildlife Federation offers a backyard amphibian monitoring program, online at: http://www.nwf.org/frogwatchusa

The Indiana monitoring program is online at: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/endangered/naamp/nindex.htm

You can volunteer to work in the national survey at Amphibs! NAAMP Home Page.

2/2/97

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© 1997. 2005. Copyright Jordan Communications