Schueler agrees there's very little known about the creatures and where they go after breeding season, so scientists don't know why numbers are declining. In fact, everyone at the conference agreed more research was needed in basic biology and on the creature's habits. However, Schueler and others suspect there could be several reasons for the species' decline in this area and across Quebec, New York and Vermont. Poor soil has meant they've been developed for housing, or let return to forest. At the same time the fields started to grow back to forests, it created a better habitat for the wood frog.
Scientists suspect wood frog tadpoles prey on chorus tadpoles.
Participants at the conference also believe the frog's numbers could be under siege by farm and other chemicals, particularly pesticides and nitrates that are getting into the small ditches and ponds the frogs breed in. Research at McGill University suggests pesticides can lead to DNA damage, as well as greater rates of deformity in frogs. Studies suggest rates of deformities can jump as high as 15 per cent from two per cent in populations tested, said Martin Ouellet, a researcher at McGill. There is also the problem of more efficient drainage systems on farm land. Many fields that used to have the smaller shallow ponds in them in spring that were ideal habitat are now tile drained, reducing the availability of breeding sites.