Herpetology
is the study of reptiles and amphibians, encompassing the organisms that most
people would consider scary, slimy, scaly, or dangerous. However, I believe
these creatures are among the most misunderstood. Amphibians are one of the
most endangered vertebrate groups, and many species are at risk of extinction.
The
global decline in the amphibians was first noticed by the scientific community
in 1989 when the World Congressof Herpetology
met to function as a voice for international herpetological issues in
conservation. During which they discussed solutions to the rising global
amphibian concern. Recent scientific
findings have made progress towards understanding the reasons behind the
amphibian global decline. The decline is a combination of many factors such as
disease and environmental changes due to human activity. The common disease
affecting most amphibians is the widespread invasion of the Chytrid fungus
causing many of these mass extinctions. Scientists are trying to understand the
full range of factors stressing these creatures to become more susceptible to
the fungus, and acquire how the fungus can be stopped or mitigated. Recent
monitoring efforts have been successful for Costa Rica’s very diverse amphibian
population in understanding the declines and where the fungus will strike next.
These efforts have helped significantly in the conservation of endangered
amphibians in the Central American area.
Within
Costa Rica, research and monitoring has shown that areas with lack of habitat
deforestation but with an increase in climate temperatures within the last
decade has been a strong environmental factor in the reduction of the quantity
of leaf litter essential to the habitat
of amphibians of the area (Whitfield, 2006). Research to determine if Chytrid
fungus can be implicated in the mass amphibian decline in Costa Rica found that
the disease was in most areas at different altitudes before the mass declines
of amphibian population took place (Puschendorf, 2006). Other studies show that the areas where Chytrid
fungus has been most detrimental are those areas with the most influence of
human activity. Efforts to monitor the situation by predicting where the fungus
will strike next have become a race against time as species numbers decline.
Conservationists have had to resort to desperate measures to secure
preservation of certain species by keeping some in captivity until the fungus
can be eradicated out of the natural environment. As new techniques and
procedures are developing to help assist scientists in understanding how to
stop the fungus, the World Congress of Herpetology hopes to raise awareness of
the importance of amphibians, and how they serve important ecological roles. These
creatures are vital to the ecosystem and are good ecological indicators due to
their high degree of sensitivity and their ability to respond to changes in the
environment. These creatures deserve to be protected for generations to come.
Of course, it starts with you.
Read
the scientific facts:
1.
Weldon C, du Preez LH, Hyatt AD, Muller R, Speare R. Origin of the amphibian
chytrid fungus. Emerging Infectious Diseases [1080-6059]. Available from
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/10/12/03-0804.htm
2.
Rosenblum E, Voyles J, Poorten T, Stajich J. The Deadly Chytrid Fungus: A Story
of n Emerging Pathogen. PLoS Pathogens. [1000550]. Available from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2813266/
3.
Whitfield S, Bell K, Philippi T, Sasa M, Bolaños F, Chaves G, Savage J,
Donnelly M. Amphibian and Reptile declines over 35 years at La Selva, Costa
Rica. JSTOR: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
States of America.
4.
Puschendorf R, Bolaños F, Chaves G. The Amphibian Chytrid Fungus along an
Altitudinal transect before the first reported declines in Costa Rica.
Biological Conservation. [132: 136-142] Available
from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.clemson.edu/science/article/pii/S0006320706001133
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