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Published November
2002
LGVN Animal news - Amphibians
Global
Extinction Threat to Amphibians
A new form
of fungus could partly explain the dramatic decline in all amphibian
species throughout the world.
An infection,
the chytrid fungus, has been found in frogs toads, salalmanders
and newts over six continents and is the first wildlife disease
to have spread on a global scale.
Along with ever decreasing habitats, due to human destruction, amphibians
have little chance of survival. However some toad populations are
showing signs of stability, but in greatly suppressed numbers. It
remains to be seen if they will eventually develope a natural defensive
mechanism against the fungus, which first appeared in the late 1970's.
Chytrid fungus is said to be newly evolved descendent that only
once live off dead plant material.
Common
weedkiller is changing gender of Frogs
A recent
study by the University of California, Berkley has shown that a
widely used herbicide is changing the gender of frogs.
The North American
study shows that Atrazine, a chemical used in many weedkillers has
caused major changes in frog species. Male sperm counts have been
dropped dramatically. And as with recent studies in river rish,
species are changing from male to female.
This is believed
to be a major reason why there is a global decline in frog populations.
Looking-Glass
comments:
We can't stress enough how important it is
to encourage amphibian wildlife back into your garden… Trendy and
pretentious decking, water features and pebbles placed Feng Shui
style are absolutely no use at all for our struggling wildlife….
Use your common sense, and if you have to arrange your garden like
a fashion accessory, do it with consideration towards nature...
and never use a weedkiller.
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