Endangered Species Bulletin articles from December 2008

Endangered Species Bulletin archives from December 2008

The global amphibian crisis.(YEAR OF THE FROG)
December 22, 2008... A crisis of enormous proportions faces the world's amphibian species. At present, we estimate that about one-third of the more than 6,000 known amphibian species are at risk of extinction. This likely underestimates the real number since data...

Project golden frog.(YEAR OF THE FROG)
December 22, 2008... The brilliantly colored golden frogs native to the cloud forests of Panama are culturally significant to the people of that nation, as revered as the bald eagle is in the United States. They have long been considered lucky by Panamanians, who...

Chiricahua leopard frog inches towards recovery.(YEAR OF THE FROG)
December 22, 2008... Recovery--it is the most important part of endangered species conservation. For most species, considerable funding and staff resources are needed to overcome years of population declines and habitat degradation. Despite the limited resources...

The Ozark hellbender: out from under a rock.(YEAR OF THE FROG)
December 22, 2008... What lurks below the clear waters of Ozark streams? Well, it's not pretty, but it is pretty cool. The Ozark hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi), which can reach a length of about 2 feet (0.6 meters), is one of the largest...

Conserving Columbia spotted frogs in Nevada.(YEAR OF THE FROG)
December 22, 2008... Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) in the Great Basin of Nevada have been a candidate for Endangered Species Act protection since 1993. Most populations in this region are small and highly fragmented, and are highly vulnerable to...

Ranchers restore amphibian-friendly ponds.(YEAR OF THE FROG)
December 22, 2008... East of the San Francisco Bay area, in the arid hills of California's inland Coast Ranges, ponds have become magnets for wildlife, large and small. Two small but notable inhabitants of these ponds are the California red-legged frog (Rana...

Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.(YEAR OF THE FROG)
December 22, 2008... With amphibians and reptiles declining more dramatically than any other vertebrate group on the planet, what can be done? Around the globe, efforts are underway to determine the causes and develop solutions to amphibian and reptile declines,...

Restoring a vital partnership.(TRIBAL CONSERVATION)
December 22, 2008... I am delighted to introduce this edition of the Endangered Species Bulletin highlighting the important work of Indian tribal governments in helping to protect, preserve, and restore threatened and endangered Species. In these pages, you will...

Apache leader promotes tribal conservation rights.(TRIBAL CONSERVATION)(Ronnie Lupe)
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Apache word ni holds the dual meaning of "mind" and "land," illustrating the connection to "place" that the Apache people carry with them. It's no surprise that the White Mountain Apache Tribe's chairman, Ronnie...

Hoopa tribe leads in fisher conservation.(TRIBAL CONSERVATION)
December 22, 2008... The Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, the largest reservation in California, is located in a remote area of Humboldt County approximately 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of the Oregon border. Composed of 90,000 acres (36,422 hectares), it is...

Restoring endangered species on the Pueblo of Santa Ana.(TRIBAL CONSERVATION)
December 22, 2008... The Pueblo of Santa Ana is located in north-central New Mexico and encompasses over 79,000 acres (32,000 hectares) of trust land. Six miles (9.6 kilometers) of the Rio Grande flow through the Pueblo's boundaries. Historically, the Rio Grande...

Traditional ecological knowledge.(TRIBAL CONSERVATION)
December 22, 2008... Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are marine mammals that primarily inhabit the ice-covered sea of the Northern Hemisphere but also use both marine and terrestrial habitats for feeding, denning, breeding, and seasonal movements. On May 15, 2008,...

A natural connection: USGS and endangered species research.(USGS RESEARCH)
December 22, 2008... The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is an independent science agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). USGS scientists conduct research on diverse topics in geology, biology, water, and such earth hazards as earthquakes and...

Recovering endemic plants of the Channel Islands.(USGS RESEARCH)
December 22, 2008... At the California Channel Islands, off the state's southern coast, cold waters from the north mix with warmer waters from the south. Each of the eight Channel Islands, which were never connected to the mainland, developed unique floras as...

Conserving bird communities in the sagebrush sea.(USGS RESEARCH)
December 22, 2008... The sagebrush ecosystem, which occupies about 120 million acres (485,600 square kilometers) across 14 western states and 3 Canadian provinces, is one of the largest in North America, and one of its most imperiled. Decades ago, warnings began to...

Ice, climate change, and wildlife research in Alaska.(USGS RESEARCH)
December 22, 2008... What do polar bears, Pacific walrus, spectacled eiders, and Kittlitz's murrelets have in common? In a word--ice! Although the effects of climate change can now be observed almost anywhere in the United States, nowhere are the effects more...

The California clapper rail and multispecies recovery planning.(USGS RESEARCH)
December 22, 2008... The California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) lives in remnant tidal marshes of San Francisco Bay, where less than 20 percent of the historic tidal wetlands remain. Listed as an endangered species in 1970 by the Fish and Wildlife...

Surveys reveal decline of the palila.(USGS RESEARCH)(Report)
December 22, 2008... The endangered palila (Loxioides bailleui) is a flagship species of Hawaiian forest bird conservation. Due mainly to long-term ecological research by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) biologists and many hundreds of volunteers from Hawai'i, the...

The scientist within us all.(CHILDREN IN NATURE)(Connecticut Amphibian Monitoring Project)
December 22, 2008... Virtually all of us in the field of wildlife conservation owe our respective career paths to select adults who took time out of their busy lives to kindle our spark of interest in wildlife. If we reflect, we can remember their impact. I...

U.S. fish & wildlife service contacts.(Directory)(Table)
December 22, 2008... U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE CONTACTS WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE Washington, D.C. 20240 Rowan Gould, Acting Director Bryan Arroyo, ...

Box score.(endangered species)(Statistical table)
December 22, 2008... BOX SCORE Listings and Recovery Plans as of February 23, 2009 U.S. ENDANGERED THREATENED SPECIES ...