I've decided to make Saturday my non-frivolous, non-fashion related blogging day. After my post last week featuring some endangered species, I'm going to make it a regular staple. I know it's not why you follow my blog, or what led you here, but I feel the need to spread truth and information, to promote awareness. I hope you'll read through, but I won't mind if you skip these posts! I hope those of you who read them, learn and enjoy them.
Today I'm going to talk about the deadly
chytrid fungus, which has caused major amphibian declines in Central and South America as well as in Australia since the late 1980s. The fungus infects an amphibian's skin, sloughing off the skin's layers and causing lethargy, weight loss, and eventual death.
This fungus spreads so quickly that high numbers of frogs can be found dead on the forest floor in its wake. In fact, it spreads so rapidly that scientists have a hard time tracking it, or predicting where it will strike next. Frogs are incredibly important to their ecosystems, filling the niche of both predator and prey. They help control insect populations and provide food sources for countless other reptiles, birds and small animals. It's crucial that we learn more about this fungus, how to combat it, and how to save our remaining frogs.
At this rate, entire species of frogs are being killed off by the fungus before they can even be properly documented by science. (Part of the reason why some of the photos have only scientific names.) This fungus is found on every continent that is inhabited by amphibians, but is only recently creeping into new frog populations, causing many of these sudden and extreme die offs.
An example of the severity and the impact of this fungus can be seen in a study that was done near El Copé in Panama. The prolonged population survey, from 1998 to 2004, documented 63 frog and salamander species, 11 of which were new to science. In 2004, the fungus arrived and swept through the region. The post-epidemic survey conducted between 2006 and 2008 showed that 25 of the 63 species had been lost. Five of the missing species were among the 11 that were new to science.
While this fungus is "natural", it's still causing devastating effects around the globe in countless ecosystems. Scientists in Panama have actually created a "
Frog-Hotel" to house fungus-free frogs and keep them safe, to help save wild populations. They currently house over 20 species which are diligently cared for and fed daily.
"
You can't overstate how serious this pathogen is—it is the worst infectious disease ever recorded among vertebrates," said Mathew Fisher of the department of infectious disease epidemiology at the U.K.'s Imperial College London. Let that sink in.
There are some small hopes however. Of all substances, it's been discovered that an eye ointment used to treat pink eye in humans can
cure a frog of the fungal infection in two weeks. These small steps forward will hopefully take us into a world where our amphibian populations are not under so much risk and pressure to survive in already-dwindling natural habitat.
All photos in this post are frogs that have gone extinct most likely because of the fungus. Hopefully scientific advances and work in the field will find answers and solutions to this problem, and keep our world one filled with the endless songs of frogs.
