Wildlife

US Amphibians in Sharp Decline

Scientists have been tracking the dramatic population decline of frogs, salamanders and toads around the world for years. A new study brings more bad news stateside: Amphibians are vanishing from U.S. habitats faster than feared, and even populations thought to be protected are in trouble, too.

A team of researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studied nine years worth of data on 48 species living in 34 different habitats across the country. They found that from 2002 to 2011, amphibian populations disappeared from their habitats at an average rate of 3.7 percent each year. That means within just two decades, you won't be able to find frogs or their relatives in half of the country's current amphibian habitats if that pace continues.

The prognosis is worse for more severely threatened species. American amphibian populations on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) "Red List" have been shrinking at a rate of 11.6 percent each year, the study found. At that alarming speed, these endangered creatures will disappear from half of their habitats in about six years, the researchers said.