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Amphibian Declines: Pollution Shown to Worsen Effects of Normal Parasites & Diseases

findi

Herpetologist & Author
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Hi All,
In 1990, the IUCN’s Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force, to which I belonged, was one of the few large scale efforts addressing what is now known as the “Disappearing Amphibian Crisis”. Today, with legions of biologists and hobbyists at work on the problem, we still do not fully understand why nearly 200 species have become extinct in the last 20 years – a rate 200x that of what might be “expected”. But we do have some insights, one of which was highlighted in a recent journal article (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Biology) . It appears that stress, much of which is in response to what we are doing to amphibian habitats, is worsening the effects of normal pathogens and diseases. Read article here: Amphibian Declines - Pollution Worsens Disease and Parasite Attacks | That Reptile Blog
Comments and questions appreciated. As I do not place notices here each time I post a new article on That Reptile Blog, you may wish to check in periodically or subscribe; you can do so here That Reptile Blog. Please also check out my posts on Twitter Twitter.

Thanks, Frank
My Bio, with photos of animals I’ve been lucky enough to work with That Pet Place welcomes Zoologist/Herpetologist Frank Indiviglio to That Reptile Blog | That Reptile Blog
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asfouts

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Thank you for the interesting reads! Its such a tragedy that we caused so much irreversible damage, and I believe it is very safe to assume that it is our doing given the information out there. This is a dilemna that should have a lot more public attention then it does.... Overall we need to be concious of the impact we have. We have the resources to stop this extinction crisis. Mass extinctions are natural, yes, but this is unnatural. Anyway, just my opinion, glad there are people actively trying to stop this...
 

findi

Herpetologist & Author
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Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. Yes, good that people are working on it, but so complicated...everything we do affects nature, and we can see that, but when diseases and parasites start "taking advantage" of what we do, all becomes very hard to unravel/undersatnd. Well, we do our best...

Please keep me posted on anything of interest, best, Frank
 

asfouts

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Trust me I know I spend a LOT of time thinking about what would truly be best for us and the animals we live with. It is vastly complicated and sometimes we think we are doing the right thing, then years later we find out we did something seriously wrong. Its a hard topic and I do not trust that the answer will be easy, but we have the ability to do a lot of good... But im getting off topic so I will leave it at that... I always enjoy your postings, thanks
 

findi

Herpetologist & Author
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Messages
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Thanks for the kind words...I know what you mean. Best, Frank
 
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