Your crew helps weigh, sex, and measure the frog. In four minutes, the frog is back on its twig hunting for insects. Recent research has discovered a critical global threat to amphibians. Frog populations the world over have plummeted, often in the most pristine environments, where habitat destruction, introduced predators, or pollution cannot have been the cause. This simultaneous decrease among so many species points to a global phenomenon perhaps more intense exposure to UV rays from ozone depletion or some newly evolved disease.
Amphibians are far more sensitive to environmental hazards because of their permeable skin.
Thus, any widespread reduction in their numbers is likely a warning to us that all is not well with the environment. To help pinpoint the killer, Mahony and Clulow need your help to survey Australia s most precious rainforest habitats for frogs at all stages of development and take basic measurements of stream health. Traveling to a new park every third day, you ll be working in the rich and ancient escarpment of the Great Dividing Range on a project that may touch your life more directly than you d ever expect. You ll have ample time to swim, visit nearby villages, and explore these forests with their birds, possums, and kangaroos.