Conservation Corner: The Leopard Frog and the Fungus

October 1, 2015

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Wild Lands Advocate article from October 2015 by Niki Wilson.

Leopard frogs, once widely distributed throughout the province, are now a threatened species in Alberta. In the late 1970s and early 1980s their populations declined dramatically, and have never fully recovered. Their survival has been threatened by many challenges; habitat loss, road mortality, water quality issues, and a changing climate. Though some of these factors can be clearly linked to aspects of their decline, the mysterious role played by a devastating fungus is still being unraveled.

“While resistance to Chytrid is good news, we still have to be vigilant,” says Prescott, explaining that biologists are just beginning to understand how Chytrid behaves when compounded by other stressors.

Leopard Frogs, by Loba Wolf [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

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