Are the frogs the canaries of Yosemite and the world? Perhaps.
Scientists have observed, over the past two decades, the silent and mysterious disappearance of frogs and other amphibians around the world.
Even in the near pristine wilderness of Yosemite's backcountry, John Muir's "Range of Light", the once common Yosemite Toad and Mountain Yellowlegged frogs are now rare.
The air is clean, the water clean, at least to our senses, but the splash of hundreds of frogs plopping into the water as we walk around a timberline lake is common no more, nor is the subtle, but beautiful breeding chorus of the Yosemite Toad.
The Yosemite Frogs Project is a program of The Yosemite Guardian which is one of the projects of David Brower's Earth Island Institute. Those who would like to aid our efforts to save Yosemite with its natural biodiversity intact are encouraged to join The Yosemite Guardian. All of our communications are by e-mail and the Internet, including Internet Relay Chat and the World Wide Web - no junk mail.
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The San Francisco Examiner article from 7 January, 1996 was titled: "Alarming Report on air Quality in Sierra". The subtitle: "Some days it's still nice, but pollution from Central Valley ... may be killing frogs."
The pollutants at issue are "smoke, smog, and pesticide residues" and more specifically "..ozone,dust,smoke,sulfates,nitrates.."
The key information in the study is a relationship between ozone levels (low level ozone) and amphibian decline, with pollutants and rate of decline higher in the southern Sierra and improving toward the north.
The disappearance of once common animals from the pristine wilderness of Yosemite should be considered a warning call. It seems that we should regard the frogs as indicators of the health of the ecosystem. If these small moist skinned animals are disappearing it is probably a sign that all is not well with the ecosystem.
Even if the frogs are not indicators, their disappearance will reverberate through the natural world, impacting at the very least the species that the frogs feed upon and those that in turn eat frogs. More mosquitoes, fewer minks, otters, garter snakes and the predators that feed upon them. Ecology teaches us that everything is connected to everything else, through the food web and in other ways as well.
Hopefully it is not too late to reverse whatever factors threaten the survival of the frogs. Can we be as smart as miners and listen to the canaries.
Captive breeding techniques should be developed for declining species while their are still enough to justify removing some from the wild and while there is enough genetic diversity to preserve viable genotypes. Reputable institutions and individual hobbyists should be enlisted in this effort. More to come! E-mail if interested.