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Global Amphibian Decline and The Ecological Restoration of Wetlands

Global Amphibian Decline and The Ecological Restoration of Wetlands. Causes of Amphibian Decline. Habitat Alteration/Loss Agriculture, Housing Developments, Urban Sprawl Disease Chytridiomycosis , Trematode Worms Climate Change Increased UV Radiation Pollution

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Global Amphibian Decline and The Ecological Restoration of Wetlands

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  1. Global Amphibian Decline and The Ecological Restoration of Wetlands

  2. Causes of Amphibian Decline • Habitat Alteration/Loss • Agriculture, Housing Developments, Urban Sprawl • Disease • Chytridiomycosis, Trematode Worms • Climate Change • Increased UV Radiation • Pollution • Herbicides, Insecticides, Fertilizers, Chemical Contaminants • Nonindigenous Species • Pet Trade • Tiger salamanders, Axolotl’s, Pipid Frogs, Poison Dart Frogs, Red-eyed Tree Frogs http://www.wildanimalsonline.com/amphibians/tigersalamander-ambystomatigrinum.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Red_eyed_tree_frog_edit2.jpg

  3. Why Are Amphibians Important? • They are particularly sensitive to environmental change • Important bio-indicators of environmental degradation • Permeable skin makes them particularly susceptible to contaminants • They are sensitive to land-use changes • Lab specimens are used to study genetics, cellular function, and development • They are cool animals! • 32% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction • 43% of amphibian species are in population decline http://frogsaregreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/BB-Japanese-Giant-Salamander.jpg http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/showFullWatermarked.html/C0038258-Japanese_Giant_Salamander-SPL.jpg?id=670038258

  4. Challenges Amphibians Face • Their breeding-grounds have historically been filled in for more profitable enterprises • Disneyworld, Agriculture, Forestry • Amphibians have Complicated Lifestyles • Typically, the larval phase occurs in water, and the adult the phase occurs terrestrially • Little protection from Predators in large waterbodies • ISOLATED WETLANDS PROVIDE PREDATOR-FREE REPRODUCTIVE GROUNDS

  5. Restoration Projects • Small Constructed Isolated Wetlands in Most State Parks • Everglades National Park • ACE Basin • Old rice fields restored into SC DNR managed wetlands • Phinizy Swamp • Collects Augusta’s storm-water and purifies it before it reaches the Savannah River • Tuolumne River Floodplain Meadow Communities • Invasion of lodgepole pines into palustrine wetlands • Ramsar Sites • International wetland sites heavily managed for restoration of natural species compositions http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/2561025467_6dd107fc56.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/65/168476907_884fba7cfb.jpg

  6. Small Isolated Wetland Restorations • Most state parks create isolated wetlands as breeding-grounds for amphibians • Isolated wetlands are not protected under the Clean Water Act • NO FEDERAL PROTECTION http://www.gltrust.org/admin/i.php?a=ponds-rivers-and-streams&i=DSCN3839.jpg

  7. US Forest Service Borrow Pit Photo courtesy of Joanna Hawley, MS Wildlife and Fisheries Biology

  8. Literature Cited • Amphibians. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.webspawner.com/users/petcentralamphibians/index.html • Blaustein, A. R., & Johnson, P. T. (2003). The complexity of deformed amphibians. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1(2) • Blaustein, A. R., & Kiesecker, J. M. (2002). Complexity in conservation: lessons from the global decline of amphibian populations. Ecological Letters, (5) • Conservation International, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science. (2004). Global amphibian assessment Washington, DC: Conservation International. • Flink, S. (2007). Wetlands international: ramsar sites information service. Retrieved from http://ramsar.wetlands.org/RamsarInformationServiceHome/tabid/719/language/en-US/Default.aspx • National Geographic: Wild Chronicles, (2009). Giant Japanese Salamanders [Web]. Available from http://www.youtube.com/NationalGeographic#p/search/0/VN60DCHHQ50 • Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web]. 2011. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Retrieved from http://amphibiaweb.org/ • Lips., K. R., Brem, F., Brenes, R., Reeve, J. D., & Alford, R. A. (2006). Emerging infectious disease and the loss of biodiversity in a neotropical amphibian community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(9), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30048554doi: 10.1073 • Relyea, R. A. (2005). The impact of insecticides and herbicides on the biodiversity and productivity of aquatic communities. Ecological Applications, 15(2), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4543379 • Weldon, C., Preez, L. H., Hyatt, A. D., & Speare, R. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Emerging Infectious Diseases. (2004). Origin of the amphibian chytrid fungus • Whigham, D. F. (1999). Ecological issues related to wetland preservation, restoration, creation, and assessment. The Science of the Total Environment, (240), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V78-3XK0PBH-1P&_user=590719&_coverDate=10%2F18%2F1999&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000030198&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=590719&md5=192ecd8a33b92bd3a9675ed339dd90d5&searchtype=a

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