Victory for California’s native amphibians!

Millions of non-native American Bullfrogs enter San Francisco and Los Angeles each year from ports in China, Taiwan, Brazil and Uruguay. These farm-raised frogs are known carriers of a deadly chytrid fungus that has decimated California’s Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog Populations, and caused the complete extinction of up to 100 amphibian species worldwide. One study showed that over 60% of the American Bullfrogs tested in California markets were infected with this deadly fungus! Being farmed around the world has also enabled the bullfrogs to become harmful invasive species that prey on native wildlife — both overseas, and right here in California. The endangered California Red-Legged Frogs are a favorite food of the predatory bullfrogs.

On April 8th, 2010, the CA Department of Fish & Game made the wise decision to ban the importation of non-native frogs and turtles for food. Unfortunately, a vocal minority of restaurant and supermarket owners successfully lobbied the Fish & Game Commission to hold a “re-consideration” of that ruling.

On May 19th, 2010, SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger testified at the Commission’s May 19th “reconsideration” hearing, highlighting the spread of infectious disease and invasive species that inevitably accompany the frog legs trade. Not only did the Commission vote 3-2 to maintain the ban on the importation of non-native frogs and turtles for use as food, they also voted to research methods of enforcing the ban and ensuring invasive species do not slip into the state via potential loopholes.

Thanks to the 1,196 SAVE THE FROGS! supporters letters that sent in letters to the Department of Fish & Game over the past 4 days!

Dr. Kriger’s letter to the Fish & Game Commission follows:
“My name is Dr. Kerry Kriger. I am the Founder & Executive Director of SAVE THE FROGS!, America’s first and only public charity dedicated to amphibian conservation. Our mission is to protect amphibian populations and to promote a society that respects and appreciates nature and wildlife. I have been involved in environmental conservation for 14 years, and have worked full time on amphibian conservation for 7 years.

On behalf of SAVE THE FROGS!, on behalf of our 300+ members and 1,300+ financial supporters, and on behalf of California’s 16 threatened amphibian species, I urge you to maintain the ban on the importation of non-native frogs and turtles into California for use as food. Reversing this ban would ensure the continued and magnified spread of harmful invasive species and pathogens, and thus would be in the worst interest of California’s ecosystems and all the state’s inhabitants.

Invasive species are one of the most significant threats to biodiversity in California and worldwide, and they are also one of the most costly: the Nature Conservancy estimates that invasive species cost Americans 120 billion dollars each year.

Millions of non-native American Bullfrogs enter San Francisco and Los Angeles each year from ports in China, Taiwan, Brazil, Uruguay and elsewhere. These farm-raised frogs are known carriers of a deadly chytrid fungus that has decimated California’s native frog populations and caused the complete extinction of up to 100 amphibian species worldwide. A recent study showed that over 60% of the American Bullfrogs tested in California markets were infected with this deadly fungus.

Being farmed around the world has also enabled the bullfrogs to become harmful invasive species that prey on native wildlife – both overseas, and right here in California. For example, the endangered California Red-Legged Frog is a favorite prey item of the predatory bullfrogs.

So long as non-native frogs and turtles are brought into the state, it is inevitable that some will escape or be set free and establish populations. It is also inevitable that the waterborne pathogens these animals carry will enter Californian ecosystems, as the regulation and sterilization of used water from the animal’s tanks would not be feasible. Eradication of invasive species and pathogens is nearly impossible.

Though assertions have been put forth that this ban improperly targets Asian communities due to the lack of a concurrent regulation of non-native frogs and turtles for use as pets, two wrongs do not make a right: a lack of proper regulation of the pet industry does not justify a failure to act intelligently with the food industry. Indeed I also urge the Department of Fish & Game to consider similar regulations on the import of non-native frogs and turtles for use as pets.

Also, the claim that this ban harms traditional Chinese culture is flawed:

First: the vast majority of the frogs being imported for food are American Bullfrogs, which have only a very recent history in Chinese cuisine; and

Second: Cultures necessarily evolve: if they did not, we would have long since eaten the buffalo and the California Red-Legged Frog to complete extinction, as we did the passenger pigeons.

As Americans, we are fortunate to have many choices of food, and thus it is our responsibility to act wisely and ensure that our culinary decisions are not unduly impacting our natural heritage and the future of our planet. As such, I request the Fish & Game Commission and the Department of Fish & Game uphold the ban on the importation of non-native frogs and turtles into California.

Thanks for your consideration.
Dr. Kerry Kriger

California Endangered Species Act Protection Sought to Save Mountain Yellow-legged Frog
From Exotic Trout, Habitat Destruction, and Disease

SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity today petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to list all populations of the highly imperiled mountain yellow-legged frog as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act. Mountain yellow-legged frogs inhabit high-elevation lakes, ponds, and streams in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Transverse Ranges of California and are on a rapid trend to extinction. Their rapid decline is due to predation by introduced trout, spread of diseases that may be exacerbated by exposure to pesticides, and habitat alterations caused by climate change, drought, and livestock grazing.

“Once the most abundant frog in the high Sierra, the mountain yellow-legged frog now barely clings to survival,” said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The mountain yellow-legged frog needs the protections of the California Endangered Species Act to have any chance at recovery.”

Although mountain yellow-legged frogs throughout California should be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has only listed the Southern California population as endangered. In response to a 2000 petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Service determined that Sierra Nevada mountain yellow-legged frogs also warrant federal listing as endangered, but that such listing is precluded by actions to list other species. As a fallback the agency placed the Sierra population on the candidate list, which does not confer federal protection. The average time on the waiting list for candidate species is 17 years, and many animals and plants have gone extinct while languishing on this list.

“Continued delay of federal protection for all mountain yellow-legged frog populations is placing this unique California amphibian at risk of extinction,” said Miller. “Without federal action, this frog needs protection under the California Endangered Species Act.”

Only a few decades ago, it was difficult to walk around many of the Sierra’s alpine lakes without tripping over diminutive mountain yellow-legged frogs, known as “mountain gnomes.” These hardy survivors of freezing Sierra winters are vulnerable to a host of modern threats that have driven the species to the brink of extinction. Surveys since 1995 at 225 historic frog localities show extinction of 93 percent of the northern and central Sierra populations and 95 percent of southern populations.

This month the California Department of Fish and Game released a final environmental impact report on the impacts of stocking of hatchery fish on mountain yellow-legged frogs and other imperiled species, which unfortunately failed to adopt sufficient mitigation to protect the species from the impacts of past and ongoing fish stocking.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national nonprofit conservation organization with more than 255,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Background
Mountain yellow-legged frogs are adapted to high-elevation habitats without aquatic predators. Widespread stocking of nonnative trout in high-elevation Sierra lakes by the California Department of Fish and Game has been the primary cause of decline for the species. Introduced trout prey on tadpoles and juvenile frogs and change the food web of the aquatic ecosystems frogs depend upon. Since 2000, the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service have begun removing nonnative trout from some high Sierra lakes on federal lands in an attempt to restore yellow-legged frog populations.

In 2006 the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against Fish and Game for failing to complete an environmental review of the impacts of fish stocking on sensitive aquatic species; in 2007 a court ordered the state agency to conduct a public review of the stocking program’s impacts. In 2008 Fish and Game agreed to interim restrictions prohibiting stocking trout in water bodies with species sensitive to nonnative fish. Although the state has taken steps to reduce trout stocking in areas with yellow-legged frogs, stocked trout continue to harm frog populations and limit recovery. Permanent protection and management decisions to stop stocking and remove trout in key frog habitats are necessary to reduce trout predation of mountain yellow-legged frogs.

Recent research has linked pesticides that drift from agricultural areas in the Central Valley to declines of native amphibians in the Sierra Nevada. Pesticides and other pollutants can directly kill frogs and also act as environmental stressors that render amphibians more susceptible to diseases, including a chytrid fungus that has recently ravaged many yellow-legged frog populations.

Mismanagement of national forest lands has degraded frog habitat where livestock grazing, logging, off-road vehicles, and recreational activity are allowed in frog habitat. Rapid climate change has brought warmer temperatures, decreases in runoff, shifts in winter precipitation in the Sierra from snow to rain, and habitat changes that are rendering frog populations more vulnerable to drought-related extinction events.

The mountain yellow-legged frog was recently re-described by scientists as two distinct species: the southern mountain-yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), which occurs in the southern Sierra and Transverse Ranges of Southern California; and the Sierra Nevada mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae), in the central and northern Sierra.

Contact: Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 499-9185

Several Litoria frog species have successfully established outside of
their native Australian range: L. dentata (Lord Howe Island), L. aurea
(New Zealand, New Caledonia & Vanuatu), L. ewingii (New Zealand), and
L. raniformis (New Zealand). This project will compare the physiology,
ecology, behaviour, and genetics of source and introduced populations,
focusing specifically on the introduction of the bleating tree frog (L.
dentata) to Lord Howe Island. The project will be co-supervised by Dr
Richard Reina, Monash University. Funding for the project has been
obtained from an internal grant from Monash University.

Students will need to successfully obtain a PhD scholarship. Australian
and New Zealand citizens can apply for an Australian Postgraduate Award
(APA) or Monash Graduate Scholarship (MGS) (application deadline 31st
October). Students with a First Class Honours degree (or equivalent)
are guaranteed a Faculty of Science Dean’s Postgraduate Research
Scholarship. International students can apply for an IPRS or Monash
Graduate Scholarship. For further information regarding PhD entry
requirements see: PhD requirements.

http://www.biolsci.monash.edu.au/staff/chapple/prosp.html

Interested students should email their research interests, CV, academic
record, and details of two academic referees to Dr David Chapple
(David.Chapple@sci.monash.edu.au). For further information phone (03)
9905 3015.

______________________________________________
Dr David Chapple
Lecturer in Evolutionary & Invasion Biology
School of Biological Sciences
Monash University
Clayton VIC 3800, Australia
Ph: +61-3-9905 3015
Fax: +61-3-9905 5613
Email: david.chapple@sci.monash.edu.au
Website: http://www.biolsci.monash.edu.au/staff/chapple/