Amphibian Conservation Education Project: Bridging the Gap between Citizen Scientists and Bench Scientists

What is the Amphibian Crisis?  Over 6,000 species of frogs, toads, newts, salamanders & caecilians in the world  First comprehensive assessment of amphibian populations conducted in 2004 by IUCN  Concluded that 2,000-3,000 are threatened with extinction

Why are they disappearing?  Habitat loss  Pollution  Climate change  Diseases  Invasive species species  Over collection

Chytrid Fugus  First detected in an African Clawed Frog, Xenopus laevis in 1938  African Clawed Frogs were transported all over the world for use in human pregnancy testing  Fungus attacks the skin and affects amphibians ability to “breathe” through their skin “breathe” through their skin

Why should people care?  Act as exterminators  Vital role in ecosystem  Indicators of environmental health  Aid in medical research and the pharmaceutical industry  Cultural importance Gastric-Brooding Toad Rheobatrachus silus

Benefits of Amphibian Conservation Education Project Aid herpetologists with labor and time intensive surveysAid herpetologists with labor and time intensive surveys Develop community stewardship through teachers and studentsDevelop community stewardship through teachers and students Creates awareness of ecological concerns amphibians faceCreates awareness of ecological concerns amphibians face Develop inquiry skills and apply skills to scienceDevelop inquiry skills and apply skills to science

Field Work Participants collect:Participants collect: Habitat description Water quality data GPS coordinates Pictures of the specimen Swab samples to test for chytrid

Making it relevant Making it relevant  Omaha’s Zoo partnered with The Biofinity Project  Biofinity was able to quickly configure a user friendly data repository for the Zoo  Allows data and pictures to be easily uploaded, stored and visually analyzed  Allows students and herpetologists to track where amphibian species and Chytrid fungus are being found throughout the state  Amphibian Database “Administrators” are able to verify and edit data

Amphibian Database  Biofinity created data fields specific to amphibian project

Amphibian Database  Google Maps allows students and herpetologists to visually analyze data

Amphibian Database  Students are able to upload pictures of amphibians  Allows herpetologists to confirm species sightings

Project Future  Continue training participants  Introduce database to herpetologists and gain feedback  Possibly create different querying methods for users  Tool to search for amphibians that test positive for Chytrid fungus

The Connection  Through partnerships, OHDZ will profoundly impact amphibian education  OHDZ is creating partnerships with one common goal; to preserve these species so that future generations can “Appreciate the Little Things”

Resources   biofinity.unl.edu/biofinity/HDZ/amphibian/ biofinity.unl.edu/biofinity/HDZ/amphibian/    

References IUCN, Conservation International and NatureServe An Analysis of Amphibians on the 2008 IUCN Red List. Downloaded on 8 September 2010.