Factors That Affect Water Loss Rates Essay

Most amphibians are critically endangered and this is explained by the spread of chytrid, habitat loss, and overexploitation. Researchers are saying chytrid is the explanation for the enigmatic decline. This fungal disease affects almost all amphibians by attacking their skin, eventually giving them a heart attack and killing them. Habitat loss, by climate change or deforestation, is also extremely dangerous as many amphibians only have a few places they can survive (i.e. spotted frog only has 3 places to thrive). As well, climate change can change the amphibian’s environment so great that the species can no longer survive in their habitats.

Overall for this change project, we have learned that the population of frogs has been decreasing all over the world. There are many factors that decrease their population like agriculture, invasive species, and the population of humans. Specifically, in California, only 40% of the historical sites in the Northwest area have Foothill Yellow-Legged Frogs, and this has the highest percentage out of all of California. These frogs are indicators for the environment, meaning they can determine if the area around them has changed dramatically due to their permeable skin. For our service project, we removed invasive plants like the Himalayan Blackberries and dug creek beds for the frogs. From this, we were able to improve the levelness of the area

Another interaction is the amphibian response to the tropical climate. The rainfall and humidity is much higher in the tropics allowing many frogs to live more land-based lifestyles. This is only made possible because of the excessive amount of

There are many environmental culprits that are causing species of amphibians to decline in numbers. Consequently, there are an alarming number of amphibians across the U.S. with deformities such as missing limbs or extra limbs due to environmental causes. Environmental scientists say that the widespread occurrence of amphibians with deformities might be due to water pollution or chemical pollutants in the water. There are other factors that might have caused these frogs to have missing or extra limbs such as parasites, ozone depletion, and weather patterns. However, Amphibians are not the only species that have declined in population. According to an article written by Beth Baker poor water quality is to blame for the decrease in population of sea grass, coral, and fish along with many other misfortunes.

          As water pollution increases and water quality declines so do the hellbender populations. The large amphibians breath entire through their skin, and like any amphibian, can absorb nearly anything through it. Chemical runoff from pesticides and herbicides, and siltation from nearby

We speculate that the southern toad is in higher abundance in the direct vicinity of water versus the dryer surrounding area due to the breeding season (February- October) and the high levels of nutrition needed (Meshaka, W. E., J.R., &

In their movements, northern leopard frogs can encounter native grass prairie as well as crop fields and grazed pastures that potentially can act as barriers to their movements. Since grassland prairie and wetlands in the PPR have been greatly reduced, the wetlands that are highly depended on by the northern leopard frog to complete its’ life cycle in the prairie pothole region have become separated by greater distances. Depending on the cover type through which a frog must move, it can become exposed to the sun, wind, and other environmental factors for longer periods of time that, in turn, could cause them to lose water faster than if moving through a more naturally vegetated area. In addition, they may become more visible to predators.

It has developed highly efficient mechanisms for collecting water on the ground and moisture in the air and transporting it across its skin to its mouth (Map 2010). The Texas horned lizard has hinged scales, which are interconnected to a system of tubular canals located in the thin keratin layer of its skin (Sherbrooke et al 2007). When water or moisture comes into contact with the its scales, capillary forces pull water into the lizard’s tubular canals, which is then transported to the mouth for consumption (Sherbrooke et al 2007). The lizard’s hinged scales have also adapted a greater efficiency of absorbing water by increasing their surface area, which allows for more water to be absorbed and transported at once (Sherbrooke et al 2007). Furthermore, the lizard has adapted a “buccal pumping” mechanism in its mouth, which allows it to pump a constant flow of water into its mouth to drink (Map 2010; Sherbrooke et al 2007). It has modified structures around its mouth that, combined with certain tongue and jaw movements, allows it to lower the water pressure and pull a constant flow of water through its tubular canals and directly into its mouth (Map 2010; Sherbrooke et al 2007).

Habitat can be considered as the optimal location where any one species can live, reproduce, and grow in an ecological time scale (Kellner et al. 1992). As the climatic conditions of the world are changing at a rapid pace, it is important to understand how species will adapt with the weather and learn to adjust their way of living. Understanding how a species survives in different climatic regions is very important for the future management of the species population and habitat. With this knowledge an individual could more efficiently manage their habitat to make it more suitable for the species to live under the given climatic conditions.

There are many patterns that can be observed throughout our environment. In this experiment, the temperatures of organisms in a biophysical environment were analyzed to see if a pattern could be recognized that was related to the behavior of an ectotherm. An ectotherm is an organism that relies on the environment to regulate its body temperature. Organisms such as Pseudemys (turtles) and Lacertilia (lizards) are examples or ectotherms. After arriving at Maxcy Gregg Park and analyzing the temperatures of four microhabitats within two habitats with infrared thermometers, the temperatures were compared between the microhabitats. Then, one habitat was chosen to analyze the temperatures between

St. Andrews university is a 500 acre campus consisting of many aquatic habitats, ideal for amphibians such as frogs and toads. Amphibians are susceptible to changes in the environment and are indicators of environmental diversity and success as well as identifiers of pollutants in the environment (Marshall, 2013). We were interested in the prefered conditions for local toad and frog species on St. Andrews campus, located in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Some aquatic environments include lakes, ponds, creeks and a Carolina Bay. We hypothesised that toad and frog populations will be denser at the Carolina Bay because the area provides acoustics, ideal for calling mates and also has a lot of surface area that allows for solar heating that increases metabolism that would allow for quicker development (metamorphosis) as well as having lots of areas to lay eggs, due to mating and offspring developmental requirements. Frogs and toads are external fertilizers and the females lay their eggs in the water and the males fertilize the eggs. Also, once the eggs hatch depending on the species they will spend the first month or so of their lives in water as a tadpole until they metamorphosize into frogs or toads. Due to this, they are more likely to be in aquatic areas during mating seasons (Partymiller, L.).

Manzoor, K. P. (2011). The global water crisis: Issues and solutions. IUP Journal of Infrastructure, 9(2), 34-43.

Frogs, toads, caecilians, and salamanders are the members of the class Amphibian (amphi- meaning “on both sides” and bios- meaning “life”). These members always require water for reproduction. Most Amphibians undergo metamorphosis, which is a usually degenerative pathological change in the structure of a particular body tissue. And, in the case of Amphibians, it is the changing of a tadpole into

This paper discovers the water budget for Berkeley, California in comparison to Terre Haute, Indiana. The two cities precipitation differs throughout the twelve month calendar year where many of the heavy precipitation months are totally opposite. Berkeley California’s winters, where the majority of rain occurs and Terre Haute, Indiana where the rainfall is observed as consistently disseminated throughout the year evenly. This paper will also magnify geographic position, climate and elevation in contrast of the two cities that reflects the water budget outlined in Project 1: Water Balance defined in

It is an essential resource for sustaining life as well as central to agriculture and rural development, and is intrinsically linked to global challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as degradation and depletion of natural resources that affect the livelihoods of millions of people across the world. According to the World Bank, (2010) report, water is a scarce resource with multiple interwoven uses that range from drinking water, energy, irrigation, manufacturing things, transport of people and goods among others. The report further states that, more than one-sixth of the Worlds’ population does not have access to safe drinking water, with 80% living in rural areas thus access to water cannot not be guaranteed globally.