Frog’s, salamanders, newts and other amphibians of the world are in deep trouble.
According to a new global assessment, 41% of species of the amphibian family that scientists have studied are vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The percentage has increased from 39% in the previous assessment conducted in 2004.
Junjie Yao, a frog researcher from Duke University who was a part of the study, said, “Amphibians are the world’s most threatened animals. Their unique biology and permeable skin make them very sensitive to environmental changes.”
The study, which was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, found that large scale farming and ranching resulting in the loss of habitat is the prime threat to amphibians around the world. However, amphibians are pushed to the peak by disease and climate change, the study revealed.
Michael Ryan, a biologist from University of Texas who was not a part of the study, said that amphibians are vulnerable animals as they have distinct life stages all of which require distinct habitats, thus, they are easily threatened by changes in either aquatic or land environments.
Amphibians are also endangered due to their delicate skin as the majority of them inhale oxygen through their skin and that’s why they do not possess scales, feathers or fur to protect them. They are easily affected by chemical pollution, bacteria and fungal infections as well as fluctuation in temperature and moisture levels due to climate change.
For instance, frogs are primarily nocturnal. But they won’t come at night if the temperature increases as they would lose too much water via their skin, said Patricia Burrowes, a study co-author and researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. But staying in sheltered places limits their ability to eat and to breed.
This summer was recorded to be the hottest for the Northern Hemisphere, and puts 2023 as 2nd hottest globally, following 2016.
Development in technology has enabled the new study to track animals and climate variations to efficiently study the animals to use precise data than the assessment of 2004, said Juan Manuel Guayasamin, a frog biologist at the University San Francisco of Quito, Ecuador. “We have a much better understanding of some risks,” said Guayasamin, who was not involved in the report.
According to the study, endangered amphibians are highly concentrated in biodiversity hotspots such as the Caribbean islands, the tropical Andes, Madagascar and Sri Lanka. In addition, locations having several threatened amphibians include Atlantic Forest in Brazil, southern China and the southeastern United States.
