Not Seeing Spots

Posted on August 1, 2012 by MadelineBodin

A designation as endangered or threatened for the Western population of the northern leopard frog was deemed “not warranted” by the US Fish and Wildlife Service late last year.

According to a US Forest Service report, the northern leopard frog is, however, “listed as a sensitive species by the Northern (Region 1) and Rocky Mountain (Region 2) regions of the USFS, and by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) state offices in Wyoming and Colorado.”

The report also notes that, “Northern leopard frogs are considered to be of special concern in Idaho, Colorado, Indiana, and Connecticut, while Montana considers it endangered on the western side of the Continental Divide and of special concern to the east. It is protected in Oregon and classified as endangered in Washington.”

There are some dozen species of leopard frog, and sometimes there is confusion in sorting them out, as the discovery of a new species of leopard frog in New York City, announced in March, shows.

A close look at Northern leopard frog populations in Nevada, published in the journal Ecology and Evolution in July, showed that the two remaining populations in the western part of the state are genetically distinct from populations in the eastern part of the state.

The work shows the difficulty of Northern leopard frog conservation.

Read the paper in Ecology and Evolution. (A fee or subscription is required.)

Photo: Northern leopard frog, from the western population in Arizona. Credit:Shaula Hedwall/USFWS

Unsolved Mystery: Frog Abnormalities

Posted on July 20, 2012 by MadelineBodin

On an August day 17 years ago, eight Minnesota junior high school students on a field trip caught 22 frogs in a farm pond. At least half of the frogs had some abnormality, mostly in their hind legs. The conscientious teacher reported the group’s finding to the state. Dutiful state scientists surveyed wetlands across Minnesota and found at least one hotspot of frog abnormality in every county in the state.

What have we learned about frog abnormalities in the last 17 years? Quite a bit, actually. There appear to be several causes, and sometimes the causes pile up to create a high rate of abnormalities. The causes also seem to vary by region.

Here’s a comprehensive overview of the situation in Minnesota from Minnesota Public Radio. You can read or listen, here.

Vermont also experienced a high rate of frog abnormalities back in 1995, but the interpretation there is a bit different than it is in Minnesota.

Read this article from The Outside Story, a syndicated nature column, about frog abnormalities in Vermont, which includes a nod to the lack of abnormalities in New Hampshire. Read it here.

Are you finding abnormal frogs? A fantastic resource for state biologists evaluating frog abnormalities is the Field Guide to Malformations of Frogs and Toads (with Radiographic Interpretations) by Carol Meteyer of the US Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center.

Find the 20-page PDF here, including lots of photos and x-rays (aka radiographs).

Photo: Frog with abnormality, by David Hoppe, courtesy of US Geological Survey

Disease Round-up: Rare, Rabid Bear; Desert Fox Distemper Spreads & more

Posted on April 26, 2012 by MadelineBodin

Rabid bears are “almost unheard of” in the eastern half of the United States. After all, transmission is typically through the bite of infected animal, and what’s going to bite a bear?

Apparently something bit a black bear in Albermarle, Virginia, because after it attacked a man, it was tested and found to have rabies.

This is gotten more coverage since, but the first article I saw on this was on GoDanRiver.com

In the Mojave Desert, an outbreak of canine distemper in desert kit foxes near a solar power installation is spreading, with dead foxes found 11 miles from the original site. Read more in the Victorville Daily Press.

We’ve written about this distemper outbreak twice before. Read the first post here. The second post, with possible causes, is here.

And while we just posted news about bullfrogs spreading chytrid fungus between continents a few days ago, yet another study shows that geese — both escaped domestic and Canada geese — can spread chytrid fungus between water bodies, either as they migrate, or simply as they visit ponds and lakes in their own neighborhood.

Read the article in ScientificAmerican.com
Or read the scientific paper with the findings in PLoS ONE.

Photo: Canada goose in Alabama, by Gary M. Stolz, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service

State Biologist Profile: Utah’s Frog Lady

Posted on April 25, 2012 by MadelineBodin

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wTqwATzW7s]

Paula Trater has been monitoring frogs near Utah’s Provo River since 1992. As this article in the Salt Lake Tribune notes, her business card says biological technician for the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, but folks on the river have come to call her “the Frog Lady,” a title that, she admits, is easier than her official one.

Find out about Paula Trater’s work, including a 3+ minute video and a slide show in the Salt Lake Tribune, here.

Note about video: There will probably be an ad. Sorry about that. It’s YouTube’s ad, not mine, though.

Bullfrog Imports Spread Fungus

Posted on April 12, 2012 by MadelineBodin

Factory-farmed bullfrogs carry the chytrid fungus, likely spreading the infection when they escape into the wild, says an article in the Bay Citizen. The frogs are shipped globally. Australia and the European Union mandate that the frogs must be killed and frozen before being imported. California laws say the bullfrogs must be killed when sold, but no law bans the import of the live frogs, which are also invasive in California.

And who knew that a one-pound bullfrog costs about $4 and serves two when cooked with rice and veggies?

Read the whole story, and see the slide show, in the Bay Citizen, here.

March Roundup of New Research

Posted on March 26, 2012 by MadelineBodin

Spring is here and a bunch of wildlife surveys are underway around the country.

In Delaware:
-It’s the fifth and final year of the Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas.
-A special effort is being made in 2012 to tally owls as part of the atlas.
–Horseshoe crabs are being tallied again, and volunteers are being trained.
-The annual osprey count is offering a volunteer training for the first time since 2007.

Maryland is two years in to four years of surveys for an amphibian and reptile atlas and is looking for volunteers.

In Kansas, they are searching for lesser prairie chicken breeding areas, or leks, from the air with helicopters. Field crews will train on March 29-31 and conduct official survey work across all of western Kansas until the middle of May. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is also asking people to report leks. The survey is part of a five-state effort, and the survey technique will be evaluated.

In North Dakota, the Game and Fish Department has launched a two-year study of white-tailed deer in intensely farmed agricultural areas.

In Maine, biologists at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have visited up to 100 dens each winter for 37 years, making the survey in the nation’s oldest radio-collar monitoring program for bears. This year the Maine Sunday Telegram wrote a story about it, with lots of pics. Read it here.

And in Washington, commuters have been reporting wildlife sightings for over a year on the I-90 corridor in anticipation of road improvements. The project’s first annual report was released recently, generating articles in the Everett Herald and The Seattle Times, and coverage other media.

Photo of I-90 Wildlife Watch billboard by Paula MacKay/Western Transportation Institute, used by permission.

Ranavirus Hits Maryland

Posted on February 15, 2012 by MadelineBodin

An “alarming number” of tiny box turtles have been found dead in Maryland during a highway-construction relocation study, The Washington Post reports. The cause of death for 26 of the 31 turtles found dead is ranavirus, which shows measles- or herpes-like symptoms in reptiles and amphibians, the article reports.

The virus has also effected local frogs and salamanders, but turtles are the big concern because they breed much more slowly, the article says.

Scott Smith, a wildlife ecologist for Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, is quoted in the article twice, including:

Smith of the Natural Resources Department said state wildlife officials are so concerned that they have applied for research funding from the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians. State budgets are too strapped to fund the necessary research, he said.

Read the entire Washington Post article, here. It includes a link to a video of a gasping box turtle. Seriously.

This Extinction Countdown blog post from Scientific American from 2010, points to these journal articles on ranavirus:
2010 – Animal Conservation
Archives of Virology
Journal of Wildlife Diseases

Photo: Box turtle by Laura Perlick, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service

Bad News for Endangered Frog

Posted on August 18, 2011 by MadelineBodin

The Los Angeles Times reports that 104 of the 106 mountain yellow-legged frogs that were rescued from a wildfire in 2009 have died mysteriously in captivity. There are believed to be about 200 of the frogs still in their native habitat in the California mountains. The species is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The US Geological Survey ecologist leading the recovery effort says he still has hope for the species. And judging by the reader comments on the article, hikers in the region are having no problem finding the frogs, although I have to wonder if they are confusing them with a similar-looking species.

Read the Los Angeles Times story here.

Read the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s species profile here.

Photo: Courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

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