Decline in amphibian populations

Many studies showed that road salt has negative effects on the survival rate of amphibian populations. According to Karraker, N. E., Gibbs, J. P., Vonesh, J. R., they found that large quantities of road salt decreased survival in both Spotted salamanders and Wood frogs. Survival of their embryos also decreased significantly. Amphibians have a lower chance to metamorphose, which is the process of an organism to develop into an adult, causing a lower a survival rate. Sanzo, D., and Hecnar, S. J. (2005, September 12), provided additional evidence of road salt’s effect on amphibian population decline. Their data produced r values of −0.28 and 0.66, proving that amphibian specie richness was negatively correlated with chloride concentration…

the risk of exposure of certain pathogens to humans and wildlife populations (Ostfeld, 2000). This age-old tension between the two perspectives is detrimental to the protection of biodiversity and 6 ecosystems. Not only does it divide the conservation movement, but, more importantly, it perpetuates confusion on both sides about the genuine objective and motivation of nature conservation. Other ways biodiversity is affected besides diseases: Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems is markedly…

Introduction As humans, we get the opportunity to share and coexist on this planet with some extraordinarily unique and diverse organisms. Of such organisms, reptiles and amphibians are some of the most adaptable organisms on Earth, residing on every continent except bitter cold Antarctica. Here in Minnesota, There are 22 species of amphibians and 31 species of reptiles, ranging from the fast moving salamanders to the slow and nimble turtles. I got the opportunity to further research the…

presence of coelom and segmentation. The fish’s gills are hidden beneath the operculum. The operculum is beneficial because it protects the fish’s gills. Cartilage is another structure that can be found that act as bones. Cartilage, however, is not bone. So, cartilaginous fish are called cartilaginous fish because their skeleton is made of cartilage instead of bone. An example of this would be a shark. Two major groups of amphibians are frogs/toads and salamanders. Yes, all amphibians are…

Chandler Montgomery Mr. Veitch U.S. History; Period 4 12 June, 2015 To What Degree, Are Americans Responsible For The Destruction of Natural Habitats? Habitat loss poses the greatest threat to species. The world’s forests, swamps, plains, lakes and other natural habitats continue to disappear as they are harvested for human consumption and cleared to make way for agriculture, housing, roads, pipelines and other hallmarks of industrial development. A large contributor to these ecological…

The article “Eating Frogs to Extinction” by Ian Warkentin addresses amphibians, particularly frogs, contributes a significant role in the gastronomy of several cultures, thus leading amphibians susceptible to mass extinction. The article begins with a list of factors that is leading to the rising cause of amphibians’ extinction; from environmental degradation to community instability to individual mechanism. These factors include their role as important prey and predators, habitat loss,…

Lithobates Sphenocephalus, commonly known as Southern Leopard Frog are a part of the Anura order of amphibians meaning “without tail,” and in the Ranidae family, also considered to be “true frogs” which are the most widely distributed family occurring on all continents with the exception of Antartica. The average size of Southern Leopard frogs is about 2-3 ½ inches. The Southern Leopard frog is native to the United States in the eastern region, and contains two subspecies currently: R. s.…

Earthworm invasion in previously earthworm free regions (e.g., glaciated northern part of North America and Europe) has become a conservation threat to rare native species, community, and ecosystems (Gundale 2002; Hale et al. 2006; Nuzzo et al 2009; Maerz et al. 2009; Sutherland et al. 2011; Nuzzo et al. 2015). In 2011, Sunderland and coauthors identified earthworm invasions in previously earthworm free regions as one of the 15 most immerging issues of biodiversity conservation. One of the…

Some of these scientists include Katti et al (2015), Ji et al (2016), and Marcus and Fiumera (2016). Katti et al (2015) showed that agrochemicals, which includes atrazine, have adverse effects on the reproductive systems of amphibians. One of the effects is a reduction in the number of follicles in amphibians, which shows that agrochemicals have a negative impact on the reproduction system of female amphibians (Katti et al, 2015). Unlike Katti et al (2015), Ji et al (2016) was worried about the…

be seen in the Figure 2.1 which breaks down the location of producers, herbivores, omnivores and carnivores in a typical food web. This can also be related to Figure 2.2 which shows a generalized food web including a cane toad. Upon their introduction there was a noticeable decline in native vertebrates such as the goanna, northern quoll and freshwater crocodile due to their vulnerability to the cane toad’s poison. This is decreasing the biodiversity amongst the ecosystems as these native…