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What is the Amphibian Crisis?

Amphibian Conservation Education Project: Bridging the Gap between Citizen Scientists and Bench Scientists. What is the Amphibian Crisis?. Over 6,000 species of frogs, toads, newts, salamanders & caecilians in the world

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What is the Amphibian Crisis?

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  1. Amphibian Conservation Education Project: Bridging the Gap between Citizen Scientists and Bench Scientists

  2. What is the Amphibian Crisis? • Over 6,000 species of frogs, toads, newts, salamanders & caecilians in the world • First comprehensive assessment of amphibian populations conducted in 2004 by IUCN • Concluded that 2,000-3,000 are threatened with extinction

  3. Why are they disappearing? • Habitat loss • Pollution • Climate change • Diseases • Invasive species • Over collection

  4. Chytrid Fugus • First detected in an African Clawed Frog, Xenopuslaevis in 1938 • African Clawed Frogs were transported all over the world for use in human pregnancy testing • Fungus attacks the skin and affects amphibians ability to “breathe” through their skin

  5. Why should people care? • Act as exterminators • Vital role in ecosystem • Indicators of environmental health • Aid in medical research and the pharmaceutical industry • Cultural importance Gastric-Brooding Toad Rheobatrachus silus

  6. Benefits of Amphibian Conservation Education Project • Aid herpetologists with labor and time intensive surveys • Develop community stewardship through teachers and students • Creates awareness of ecological concerns amphibians face • Develop inquiry skills and apply skills to science

  7. Field Work Participants collect: Habitat description Water quality data GPS coordinates Pictures of the specimen Swab samples to test for chytrid

  8. Making it relevant • Omaha’s Zoo partnered with The Biofinity Project • Biofinity was able to quickly configure a user friendly data repository for the Zoo • Allows data and pictures to be easily uploaded, stored and visually analyzed • Allows students and herpetologists to track where amphibian species and Chytrid fungus are being found throughout the state • Amphibian Database “Administrators” are able to verify and edit data

  9. Amphibian Database • Biofinity created data fields specific to amphibian project

  10. Amphibian Database • Google Maps allows students and herpetologists to visually analyze data

  11. Amphibian Database • Students are able to upload pictures of amphibians • Allows herpetologists to confirm species sightings

  12. Project Future • Continue training participants • Introduce database to herpetologists and gain feedback • Possibly create different querying methods for users • Tool to search for amphibians that test positive for Chytrid fungus

  13. The Connection • Through partnerships, OHDZ will profoundly impact amphibian education • OHDZ is creating partnerships with one common goal; to preserve these species so that future generations can “Appreciate the Little Things”

  14. Resources • www.omahazoo.com • biofinity.unl.edu/biofinity/HDZ/amphibian/ • www.saveafrog.org • www.globalamphibians.org • www.amphibians.org • www.amphibiaweb.org

  15. References IUCN, Conservation International and NatureServe. 2008. An Analysis of Amphibians on the 2008 IUCN Red List <www.iucnredlist.org/amphibians>. Downloaded on 8 September 2010.

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