| Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative |
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From the August 2002 (vol. 9, No. 1) issue of People, Land & Water, U.S. Department of the Interior, Wash., D.C. By Steve Corn, USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center  ifteen years ago, amphibians received little official attention, except for the professional herpetologists who
studied their natural history, ecology, or evolution. The problem of declining populations has received
increased attention from both governments and non-government groups, and with funding now devoted to
amphibians, there has been an explosion of acronyms.DAPTF - The Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force. Following  increased awareness of amphibian declines
after the First World Congress of Herpetology in 1989 and a workshop sponsored by the National Research
Council in 1990, the Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union established the
DAPTF. The Task Force Office is located at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, and operates
through a network of about 90 regional working groups in different regions of the world. The Internet
URL is www.open.ac.uk/daptf/index.html.Froglog - Froglog is the newsletter of DAPTF. It provides rapid communication for recent developments in amphibian conservat ion, and summar ies of recent research. It is available online at www.open.ac.uk/biology/froglog/. Frogweb - The National Biological Information Infrastructure maintains this gateway to information on amphibians and amphibian declines at www.frogweb.gov. FrogWatch -  Frogwatch USA, initiated by the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, recruits volunteers to
complement other ongiong local, national, and global amphibian monitoring
efforts. The function of Frogwatch USA is mainly educational, and management
of this program was recently transferred to the National Wildlife Federation. Information about Frogwatch USA
can be found at www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/frogwatch/. PRIMENet - The EPA and National Park Service established the Park Research and Intensive Monitoring of Ecosystems Network, which includes sites in 14 national parks, to assess the effects of environmental stressors on ecological systems nationwide. One PRIMENet research project is an assessment of amphibian distributions relative to habitat, including exposure to ultraviolet radiation, at six parks. Fieldwork is complete and manuscripts are in production. See www.aqd.nps.gov/ard/prime/diamond.htm. Another project involved developing methods to sample amphibians at two other parks (www.mpl-pwrc.usgs.gov/amphib/primenet/). NARCAM - The North American Reporting Center for  Amphibian Malformations is a web site maintained by the
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center to gather information on the occurrence and severity of
deformities and malformations in amphibians in North America, with maps showing locations of
observed malformed frogs. Visit www.npwrc.usgs.gov/narcam/.NAAMP - The North America Amphibian Monitoring Program was developed by 
the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center as a collaborative effort among
regional partners, such as state natural resources agencies and nonprofit organizations,
to monitor populations of vocal (calling) amphibians. The USGS provides central
coordination and database management. The regional partners recruit and train volunteer
observers to collect amphibian population data using a calling survey technique. Data and
information about participating in NAAMP are at www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp/.ARMI - The Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative began with funding from Congress in fiscal year 2000 to the USGS, Fish and Wildlife Services, and National Park Service. The goals of ARMI include: 1) monitor amphibian populations nationally to understand the severity and scope of declines and malformations; 2) determine the causes of declines and malformations; 3) work with Interior agencies to develop management to halt or reverse declines; and 4) encourage collaboration by making the information available to cooperators, land managers, the scientific community, and the general public. Many of the current ARMI research and monitoring efforts are described in this special section; a general description is at http://armi.usgs.gov/. ARMI is organized on a three-tiered approach, with extensive measurements at many monitoring sites across the country, efforts at a moderate number of sites to provide a regional perspective on the status of amphibians, and intensive research at a relatively small number of index sites throughout the country. ARMI monitoring efforts are focused on the latter two areas, and other programs, such as NAAMP are necessary to gather extensive data over large landscape. ARMI provides the framework for interpreting the results of studies at different scales, and data management to archive the infromation. Partnerships to take advantage of these features are highly desired. |
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