Michigan officials seek frog, toad survey volunteers

Volunteers are needed to help the Michigan Department of Natural Resources monitor frog and toad numbers.

The annual survey is conducted along permanent survey routes that consist of wetland sites.

Observers visit the sites three times in the spring when frogs and toads are actively breeding. They listen for calling frogs and toads at each site, identify the species then estimate their numbers.

Officials say declining populations of frogs, toads and other amphibians have been documented worldwide since the 1980s, with studies suggesting habitat loss, pollution, disease and collection as some of the reasons behind it.

Survey coordinator Lori Sargent says Michigan’s data on frog and toad populations allows the DNR to “start watching trends and thinking about how to slow down some of the species’ declines.”  (AP)