The Chinese Giant salamander is a perfect example. The Chinese Giant salamander is LITERALLY being eaten to extinction.
It is considered a luxury food and sell for 1000's of US dollars despite BEING ENDANGERED CRITICALLY.
The Chinese Giant salamander is a perfect example. The Chinese Giant salamander is LITERALLY being eaten to extinction.
It is considered a luxury food and sell for 1000's of US dollars despite BEING ENDANGERED CRITICALLY.
because NOBODY is aware of the Giant salamander's plight? And even if we did cut off all or some funding from Giant pandas
what makes you think that money is going to automatically go to saving the salamander? You are suggesting that saving an animal should be some picky-choosy game
Maybe that's why nobody knows aboyt the Giant Chinese Salamander.@@stoprequiredlogin Or maybe it's
because NOBODY is aware of the Giant salamander's plight? And even if we did cut off all or some funding from Giant pandas
what makes you think that money is going to automatically go to saving the salamander? You are suggesting that saving an animal should be some picky-choosy game
It would be awkward to teach your young child that the cow goes moo the frog goes croak
Those pesticides are bad for the worms frogs and most everything else but things still rot back into soil
Small frogs organs and embryos are able to survive freezing. However mammals are too big but
The right amount of sodium ions present at a wound site allows for regenerative effects similar to those found in a Salamander.
Just Like Lizards'Tailssome lizards and amphibians have the ability to regrow severed tails or limbs--in fact the blue-tailed skink abandons its tail intentionally to distract predators.
Why would avaians amphibians and on to ad nozium be given that ability; why do raccoons foxes know how to cast a broken leg;
Why would avaians amphibians and on to ad nozium be given that ability; why do raccoons foxes know how to cast a broken leg;
and California the Hibiscadelphus Woodii a flowering tree in Hawaii and the Dusky Gopher Frog located in Harrison County Mississippi.
when a frog or a monkey looked down at itself pronounced itself satisfied and said Voilã Â I am done.
and seeds before 400 million years ago amphibians before 360 million years ago reptiles before 300 million years ago mammals before 200 million years ago
or borrowing a newt s ability to regrow amputated limbs. But even if blithely injecting human fetuses with feline
The new species previously unknown to science include 38 different ants 12 fishes 14 plants eight beetles two spiders one reptile and one amphibian.
Initial studies indicate though that they may possibly have a strong effect on amphibians such as frogs.
and other freshwater crustaceans but also on small vertebrates including the lungfish frogs and small turtles that are preserved with it in the Two Tree Site fossil deposit.
A profusion of tree and plant species as well as one third of Peru's mammal bird and frog species make their home in these perennially wet regions located along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains.
#Woodland salamanders indicators of forest ecosystem recoverywoodland salamanders are a viable indicator of forest ecosystem recovery according to researchers from the U s. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station.
PSW Research Wildlife Biologist Dr. Hartwell Welsh and Garth Hodgson examined two species of woodland salamanders across four stages of tree development at Mill Creek--a disturbed
and body condition of two common species of salamander tracked closely with forest stand growth development and structural changes.
Using salamander population numbers and physiological condition on adjacent never harvested old-growth parkland to reference advancements along this developmental pathway they demonstrated relationships between salamander counts
and body condition and aspects of forest advancement including stand age tree size ambient moisture canopy closure
when woodland salamanders are found in high abundance it indicates a healthy forest having undergone ecological advancement and ecosystem recovery.
however amphibians are increasingly becoming accepted as researchers verify their applicability and usefulness. The woodland salamanders evaluated in Mill Creek were deemed credible due to their conservatism trophic role
and high site fidelity which tie them closely to conditions of place. The findings of this case study are important
Intensive farming is linked also to collapsing populations of wild animals and the endangerment of species such as amphibians.
#Early exposure to insecticides gives amphibians higher tolerance lateramphibians exposed to insecticides early in life--even those not yet hatched--have a higher tolerance to those same insecticides later in life according to a recent University of Pittsburgh study.
Published in Evolutionary Applications the Pitt study found that wood frog populations residing farther from agricultural fields are not very tolerant to a particular type of insecticide
This is the first study to show that tadpole tolerance to insecticides can be influenced by exposure to insecticides extremely early on in life--in this case as early as the embryonic stage said study principal investigator Rick Relyea Pitt professor of biological sciences within the Kenneth P
--which also included Nathan Morehouse Pitt assistant professor of biological sciences--examined three potential factors that might allow larval wood frogs to have a high tolerance to the insecticide:
Later they exposed the same individuals to a lethal concentration of the insecticide at the tadpole stage
and measured the tadpoles'mortality rates over the course of several weeks. Next the team wanted to observe
whether insecticide tolerance played a role in the frogs'acetylcholinesterase (ACHE) a key enzyme in the nervous system of animals.
Carbaryl is known to bind itself to this ACHE enzyme in frogs causing their nervous systems to slow.
The Pitt team measured the concentration of total tadpole ACHE in a sample of tadpole bodies finding that low exposure levels of carbaryl stimulated the tadpoles to produce greater amounts of the enzyme--making them more tolerant to the insecticide later in life.
whether exposure to an insecticide early in life can make amphibians more tolerant to other insecticides.
The paper Pesticide Tolerance in Amphibians: Induced Tolerance in Susceptible Populations Constitutive Tolerance in Tolerant Populations first appeared online in Evolutionary Applications.
#Pesticides contaminate frogs from Californian national parkspesticides commonly used in California's Central Valley one of the world's most productive agricultural regions have been found in remote frog species miles from farmland.
Our results show that current-use pesticides particularly fungicides are accumulating in the bodies of Pacific chorus frogs in the Sierra nevada said Kelly Smalling a research hydrologist from the U s. Geological Survey.
The Pacific chorus frog Pseudacris Regilla can be found in abundance across the state's Sierra nevada mountain range.
As with other amphibians agrochemicals potentially pose a threat to chorus frogs as exposure to pesticides can decrease their immune system thereby increasing the risk of disease.
The team collected frogs as well as water and sediment samples from seven ponds ranging from Lassen volcanic national park at the northern most point of Central Valley to the Giant sequoia National monument in the valley's southern extent.
of which were found in frog tissues from all sites said Smalling. We found that even frogs living in the most remote mountain locations were contaminated by agricultural pesticides transported long distances in dust and by rain.
Two fungicides commonly used in agriculture pyraclostrobin and tebuconazole and one herbicide simazine were the most frequently detected compounds
and this is the first time these compounds have ever been reported in wild frog tissue. Another commonly detected pesticide was DDE (Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene) a breakdown product of DDT
A comparison of the frog tissue with water and sediment collected from the same sites shows that the frogs were the more reliable indicator of chemical exposure.
#A lost frog in the lost world? Ecotourism and Conservation--Can it work? In the context of a study in the forests of Central Guyana a team of scientists from the Senckenberg Research Institute in Dresden investigated this very question
and by chance found a previously undiscovered species of frog that only exists in a very confined area of the so-called Iwokrama Forest.
whether conservation of amphibians and ecotourism can be reconciled in the forests of Guyana. The investigations are being carried out in close co-operation with the international not-for-profit organization Iwokrama International Centre for Rain forest Conservation and Development.
The original aim of the study was to investigate the populations of Hoogmoeds harlequin frog (Atelopus hoogmoedi)
in order to find out whether these morphologically very variable frogs may be affected by the planned tourism activities. The results will lead in the medium term to a sustainable development plan for the area with Atelopus receiving the role here of a so-called flagship species i e. a species which stands as representative for the protection of the entire area.
A frog that is virtually already lostduring the fieldwork for this project the researchers were struck by an inconspicuous brown frog only the size of a thumbnail
which they could not assign to any known species. As it turned out it was indeed a hitherto undescribed species of poison dart frog
As inconspicuous as the frogs appear they are unique. To date only three species of the genus Allobates are known from Guyana one of which the Cuckoo frog Allobates spumaponens Kok
& Ernst 2007 was described for the first time by the same team in 2007. Moreover the newly discovered little frog is known the third micro-endemic species
i e. which only occurs in the very small area of the Iwokrama Mountains. So far only a gecko and a caecilian a legless amphibian are known from this area as having a similarly limited distribution Because of their limited distribution
and usually small total population sizes micro-endemic species are particularly vulnerable to changes in their environment.
In order to draw attention to this fact researchers have given the little amphibian the distinctive name Allobates amissibilis (in Latin that may be lost.
and amphibians on their way to cooler environments in a warming world according to new research led by the University of Washington.
The golden mouse ornate chorus frog and southern cricket frog--three of the species that will likely be on the move in southeastern U s.--were among the nearly 3000 mammals birds
and amphibians the scientists included in their study nearly half of all such animals in the Western hemisphere.
Some animals particularly small mammals and amphibians are going to have to avoid highways agricultural development and the like.
#Threatened frogs palmed off as forests disappearoil palm plantations in Malaysia are causing threatened forest frogs to disappear paving the way for common species to move in on their turf scientists have revealed.
The study carried out by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) describes how forests converted to palm oil plantations are causing threatened forest dwelling frogs to vanish resulting in an overall loss of habitat that is important for the conservation of threatened frog
Scientists travelled to Peninsular Malaysia where they spent two years studying communities of frog species in four oil palm plantations and two areas of adjacent forest.
Amphibians are threatened the most vertebrates in the world with over 40%at risk of extinction.
The peat swamp frog (Limnonectes malesianus) is just one of the declining species threatened due to deforestation.
and if palm oil plantations continue to take over the peat swamp frog along with its forest home could be a thing of the past.
Existing practices in managing oil palm are not accommodating the highly threatened forest frog species in Malaysia
New Guineatiny frog: Living vertebrates--animals that have a backbone or spinal column--range in size from this tiny new species of frog as small as 7 millimeters to the blue whale measuring 25.8 meters.
The new frog was discovered near Amau village in Papua new guinea. It captures the title of'smallest living vertebrate'from a tiny Southeast Asian cyprinid fish that claimed the record in 2006.
The adult frog size determined by averaging the lengths of both males and females is only 7. 7 millimeters.
With few exceptions this and other ultra-small frogs are associated with moist leaf litter in tropical wet forests--suggesting a unique ecological guild that could not exist under drier circumstances.
Endangered Forest Eugenia petrikensis Country: Madagascarendangered shrub: Eugenia is a large worldwide genus of woody evergreen trees and shrubs of the myrtle family that is particularly diverse in South america New caledonia and Madagascar.
and amphibians and setting poisoned bait for rodents. The California Leafy Green Hander agreement is transparent flexible
Low barriers even kept out the frogs. Unlike the LGMA standards individual corporate requirements for farm produce are generally not transparent to the public.
#Midwestern frogs decline, mammal populations altered by invasive plant, studies revealresearchers at Lincoln Park Zoo and Northern Illinois University have discovered a new culprit contributing to amphibian decline and altered mammal distribution throughout the Midwest region--the invasive plant European
and Natural Areas Journal demonstrate how this shrub negatively impacts native amphibians and affects habitat use by mammals including increased prevalence of coyotes and other carnivores.
Amphibians are facing an extinction crisis worldwide with 165 species likely having gone extinct in recent years according to the Amphibian Ark a coalition of conservationists devoted to seeking solutions to the decline.
This coincides with breeding activity of several early-breeding Midwestern amphibian species including western chorus frogs
and blue-spotted salamanders explained Sacerdote-Velat. Several amphibian species exhibit low hatching rates in sites that are infested heavily with European buckthorn.
The Chicago Wilderness 2004 Woodland Audit found that in the Chicagoland area alone more than 26 million stems of European buckthorn exist with a density of 558 stems per acre.
Whilst this study specifically found emodin to detrimentally impact development of two species of frogs Western chorus frogs and African clawed frog (a common test species for environmental toxicity studies) Sacerdote-Velat and King
hypothesize that emodin may impact the reproductive success of other frog species in regions where buckthorn is not native.
Western chorus frogs are quite common in the Midwest and people in Illinois who have seen never them have heard probably them in the springtime said King who has continued to conduct research with Sacerdote-Velat after having served as her Ph d. adviser at NIU.
#Amphibians living close to farm fields are more resistant to common insecticidesamphibian populations living close to agricultural fields have become more resistant to a common insecticide
In a study published today in Evolutionary Applications the Pitt researchers demonstrate for the first time that tadpoles from populations close to farm fields are more resistant to chlorpyrifos--one of the most commonly applied insecticides in the world often sold as Dursban or Lorsban.
In addition a related study published in February shows that tadpoles resistant to chlorpyrifos are also resistant to other insecticides.
The Pitt researchers used newly hatched tadpoles collected from nine populations of wood frogs living at different distances from agricultural fields.
They tested the frogs'resistance when exposed to chlorpyrifos which is used against insects and Roundup Original MAX
Relyea and his Pitt collaborators exposed the tadpoles from each of the nine populations to environments containing either no pesticides chlorpyrifos or Roundup.
Wood frogs living close to agricultural land were more likely to have been exposed to pesticides for many generations compared to those living far from agriculture;
the latter frog populations likely experienced little or no exposure to pesticides said Rickey Cothran the lead author of the study
Wood frogs living close to agricultural land were more likely to have been exposed to pesticides for many generations compared to those living far from agriculture.
whether wood frog populations that were resistant to chlorpyrifos might also be resistant to other insecticides.
when farmers switch pesticides from year to year but little is known about how this switching of pesticides affects amphibians.
Using three commonly applied pesticides that have similar chemical properties--chlorpyrifos carbaryl and malathion--the Pitt researchers exposed 15 populations of wood frog tadpoles to high concentrations of each insecticide.
They found that wood frog populations with resistance to one insecticide also had resistance to the other insecticides.
and a graduate student in Relyea's lab. While it doesn't mean that pesticides are beneficial to amphibians our work does suggest that amphibians can evolve to resist a variety of pesticides
and a graduate student in Relyea's lab. In the future Relyea and his team plan to study the genetic mechanisms that underlie increased resistance in amphibians
The article published Feb 21 in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry is titled Cross-tolerance in amphibians: Wood frog mortality when exposed to three insecticides with a common mode of action.
Funding for both studies was provided by a National Science Foundation grant to Relyea. Funding for the second study was provided also by Pitt'S g. Murray Mckinley Research Fund to Hua and Stoler.
Agricultural scientists in Australia headed by co-author Rana Munns and her colleagues have utilized now this type of sodium transporter in breeding research to engineer wheat plants that are more tolerant to salt in the soil boosting wheat yields by a whopping 25 percent in field trials.
Rana Munns of the University of Western australia in Perth; Naoko Nishizawa of Ishikawa Prefectural University in Japan;
In addition to duck and amphibians moose and upland mammals use this habitat extensively. Having beaver on the landscape creates a lot of biodiversity.
and importance to the health of the landscape he noted citing wetlands teaming with birds amphibians and beneficial insects.
tree salamanders have same dietssalamanders spend the vast majority of their lives below ground and surface only for short periods of time and usually only on wet nights.
When they do emerge salamanders can be spotted not only on forest floors but also up in trees and on other vegetation oftentimes climbing as high as 8 feet up.
Given their infrequent appearances aboveground it has never been clear to biologists why salamanders take time to climb vegetation.
Researchers at the University of Missouri recently conducted a study testing a longstanding hypothesis that salamanders might climb vegetation for food.
Previous research suggested that plant climbing might be a way for salamanders to access additional prey items like aphids
Connette and his colleagues tested the hypothesis by collecting red-legged salamanders (Plethodon sharmani) and examining their stomach contents.
The researchers captured an equal number of salamanders on the ground and up on trees or shrubs and then brought them back to the lab where they anesthetized them
The salamanders--minus their last meals--were returned then safely to their exact capture location. The stomach contents were preserved in alcohol
At the end they had a laundry list of things found in the guts of these salamanders.
What was surprising was that the salamanders collected on trees did not have anything one would associate with a plant-feeding insect like aphids.
The diet of the salamanders captured on the ground was the same as the diet of salamanders captured sitting high up on vegetation.
We found no evidence that climbing allows these salamanders to more fully exploit available food resources
or predator avoidance might be important influences on salamander populations said Connette. The study was prompted by the research of Curators'Professor Ray Semlitsch who has been studying salamander populations in the Appalachian mountains since 2005.
The mountain range's moist forests make it a global hot spot for a variety of salamander species. Connette said that by testing a possible explanation for climbing behavior the research also provides important background information about how salamanders can exist in high densities
in North american forests. The study Relationship between diet and microhabitat use of red-legged salamanders (Plethodon shermani) in southwestern North carolina appeared in the journal Copeia.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Missouri-Columbia. The original article was written by Melody Kroll.
The herbicide was deemed ultimately safe to amphibians despite the existence of a number of studies that could have led to a different conclusion.
Jean paul Metzger from the University of SãO Paulo collected data on birds mammals and amphibians living in the forest.
and amphibians they painstakingly recorded information on 25000 individuals made up of 140 species of birds 43 species of mammals and 29 species of amphibians.
#More wolf spiders feasting on American toads due to invasive grass, study showsan invasive grass species frequently found in forests has created a thriving habitat for wolf spiders who then feed on American toads a new University of Georgia study has found.
As their numbers grow more spiders then feed on young American toads ultimately reducing the amphibian's survival wherever this grass grows.
John Maerz an associate professor in UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural resources and one of the paper's authors said they found the grass had the greatest negative impact on toad survival in forests where toad survival
In other words the grass is degrading the best forests for young toad survival Maerz said. Another important finding was that the invasive grass affects toads by changing interactions among native species rather than the grass having a direct effect on the native toads.
Jayna Devore who led the project while earning her doctorate in the Warnell School said people often don't fully realize how much structural changes in an environment can affect how animals interact.
When Devore and Maerz originally found lower survival of American toads at eight locations in Georgia where stiltgrass is actively invading they initially speculated that the grass was reducing the toads'food supply by reducing insect populations--few native insects eat the Asian
However after noticing the wolf spiders routinely preying upon toads in invaded habitats it began to click Maerz said.
The accumulation of large predatory spiders in these invaded habitats then results in higher mortality for small toads that have emerged recently from wetlands.
They found that spider densities were 33 percent higher and toad survival decreased by 65 percent in cages with the presence of stiltgrass.
The presence of stiltgrass alone in the absence of spiders did not affect toad survival.
so this effect is unlikely to only influence toads Devore said. And there are also other ways in
and expertise at MU including genomics translational experiments with frog eggs research in the field cellular testing
Mammals and amphibians are particularly sensitive to the effects of high-intensity logging according to researchers in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on July 31 who conducted a meta-analysis of almost 50 previously published studies from around the world.
and a diverse range of birds reptiles amphibians and mammals with some only found in this region making it
To study this transport mechanism the researchers used a procedure that uses frog eggs (called oocytes) to manufacture Apglnt1.
This spray can kill ants or scare off frogs. The beetle produces the explosive agent itself when needed.
#Predation on invertebrates by woodland salamanders increases carbon capturewoodland salamanders perform a vital ecological service in American forests by helping to mitigate the impacts of global warming.
Woodland salamanders facilitate the capture of this carbon before it is released by feeding on invertebrates (beetles earthworms snails ants etc.
and other forest debris. Woodland salamanders are the most common vertebrate species in American forests;
Dr. Hartwell Welsh Jr. research wildlife biologist at the U s. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) helped conduct a study in Northwestern Calif. that examined how woodland salamander
The objective of the study was to investigate the role of salamanders in regulating invertebrate abundances
The study included soil moisture as a covariate and field enclosures on the forest floor to quantify the effects of woodland salamanders.
and found that woodland salamander predation on invertebrates suppressed some populations of invertebrates and released others with the overall result of increased litter retention and carbon capture in the soil.
and raise awareness of the ecological role woodland salamanders play in the forest carbon cycle. The renowned evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson once said it is the little things that run the world Dr. Welsh said.
These bats of which there are almost 200 species eat a variety of foods including insects frogs lizards fruit nectar and even blood.
and solvents of known high toxicity to fish amphibians honey bees and other non-target organisms.
Insects frogs lizards fruit nectar and even blood. The bats'skulls of today reflect this dietary diversity.
#Salamanders help predict health of forest ecosystems, inform forest managementwoodland salamanders are small lungless amphibians that live in moist forest habitats throughout the U s. and the world.
Salamanders often serve as vital links in forest food chains; their population size and recovery from major disturbances can help predict the health of forest ecosystems.
Now researchers at the University of Missouri have determined that salamander population size reflects forest habitat quality
and can predict how ecosystems recover from forest logging activity. MU researchers believe these findings can be translated to other species within forest ecosystems throughout the world.
One of our primary interests is in conservation of amphibians and the habitats that they utilize said Ray Semlitsch Curators'Professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts and Science at MU.
and particularly forest management affects the survival of amphibians on the landscape. We also determined that salamander recovery
--or the amount of time it takes for salamanders to repopulate a cut forest area--can help forest managers determine appropriate logging schedules.
Semlitsch and fellow researcher Grant Connette a graduate student in the Division of Biological sciences chose to study a forest area in the southern Appalachian mountains that has the highest diversity of salamanders in the world.
Although seldom seen in the daytime these animals breathe using their wet skin and forage at night.
The researchers conducted surveys of terrestrial salamanders which don't rely on water or streams to examine patterns of their abundance relative to timber harvest and species movement behavior.
They discovered that forests logged more than 100 years ago may still be affecting salamanders today.
Their research Life history as a predictor of salamander recovery rate from timber harvest in southern Appalachian forests U s a. was published in Conservation Biology.
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