PREFACE: Since I began this post in April, there have been some signs indicating the situation with local amphibians is not quite as bad as I originally portrayed – see the Addendum at the bottom. (But it’s still bad.)
It can happen here – is happening
A typical reader of this blog will know that, worldwide, amphibians—principally frogs and toads—are being ravaged by lethal fungal diseases and diminished habitat. Some species have already gone extinct, and many are sure to follow. The foremost villain in these fungal epidemics is world trade in animals. When one thinks of trade in exotics, one usually thinks of highly visible animals—colorful birds (or uniquely gifted birds such as the African Gray parrot), big cats, rare dog breeds, snakes, lizards, and such. But amphibians, despite small size, are valued by collectors for their calls and colors. And any one of them, usually from the tropics, may carry a disease that will lay waste to the toads and frogs in your neighborhood, should it escape. Even in an absence of local release, local populations are vulnerable to the plague creeping across all populations at a rate comparable to the spread of Dutch Elm Disease 50 years ago.
Something like that may have happened in or near our neighborhood in semi-rural Virginia. For whatever reason, this year our spring nights have gone silent in the absence of calls by amphibians—primarily the Gray Treefrog and the Cope’s Gray Treefrog, whose calls you may be familiar with. You can listen to their overlapping calls in the last 15 seconds of this sweet little clip:
Of course, on YouTube you can listen to a host of frog and toad calls as varied as their physical sizes and colors. Probably more varied—the diversity is astonishing!
Continue reading “Silent Spring Nights: Amphibian Decline Hits Home”