Today Ronja and I presented our Amphibian project. It went really well. People said that they really enjoyed it, they didn't know that amphibians were so important. Ronja and I thought that the presentation was suppose to be 20 minutes of presenting then discussion. Nope! It was suppose to be 10 minutes of talking and ten minutes of discussion. But since we went first it doesn't matter, we were the guinea pig. But, over all it was a success!
Here is what we said:
Ronja: To begin our
presentation I would like everyone to close their eyes. Now, imagine a life
with no frogs, toads, salamanders, newts. Not one amphibian. Now please open
your eyes. Is this what you imagined? Without amphibians bugs would be
everywhere. But what else could happen? At the rate we are going in damaging
our environment we might soon find out. But hopefully we can avoid that. Today
in our presentation we will inform you about amphibians, why they are so
important, why they are declining, and how we can help. So, let’s hop on to it.
Cara: We will begin our
presentation with a quick video clip.
Ronja: Amphibians are a
group of animals that live both on land and in water. Amphibians are divided
into three groups: frogs with about 6 000 species, salamanders with about 600
species and caecilians with about 200 species. They exist for around 250
million years already. They are capable of allowing liquids, gases and salts
through their skin. Their skin is very permeable. Because of this physical
characteristic they have the ability to intake chemicals from both the
atmosphere and bodies of water. With this ability they are very valuable biological
indicator. A biological indicator, also known as bioindicator, is an animal
that represents how healthy an ecosystem and food chain are. If the ecosystem
has a problem, for example people are draining the water source, or it is
infected with a chemical, then the bioindicator, in this case the amphibian,
will die or be forced to leave the area. When the bioindicator is gone from the
ecosystem, this shows that the area is unstable environmentally. Besides that
the water quality where they live can affect their growth, development and
survival.
Cara: Not only are
amphibian’s excellent bioindicators, but they also get the special privilege to
be a sentinel species which is related to being a bioindicator or an indicator
species. Which mean what effects them now, may affect other organisms later
which also includes humans. For example, at the rate we are polluting our world,
the amphibians are dying off. If we continue to pollute our world like we are
currently, then we will be effected negatively as well. And the human
population will decline like the amphibians population. But there are a lot of
other environmental problems that will eventually also have an impact on our
life such as pesticides in water and habitat destruction. Now that we have
reminded ourselves of what amphibians are, let’s find out why they are
important to us.
Ronja: Amphibians
aren’t only necessary for unforgettable fairy tales, but also for sustainable
ecosystems. Amphibians are right in the middle of the food chain. Amphibians
eat insects such as spiders and mosquitos. If we kill off the amphibians
because of our selfish ways, then the population of bugs will rise to an all-time
high. Just like the pictures at the beginning of the slide show. With the rise
of the insect population, diseases such as Lyme disease and malaria will have
no problem being transported to people and infecting us. Moreover frogs are a
source of discovery in science and medicines for ages. Especially their skin is
used often in medicine, also almost every species has their own compound that
is used to defend predators and can act as pain relievers and antibiotics. Also
they provide a lot of knowledge that could be discovered in the future. We need
amphibians for our own health’s sake.
Cara: The rise of the
bug population is the one side of the food chain, but animals that eat
amphibians will decline too. Because amphibians are in the middle of the food
chain, they eat and also get eaten. Animals like mammals, birds, fish and
snakes are examples of what will eat amphibians for dinner. But with no
amphibians to eat they will starve, or move to the next available animal in the
chain. They will change their food chain. But when they do that they make it so
there is less food for the animal that ate that food originally. Thus declining
both animal species. For example, if all the amphibians from an ecosystem die
or leave, then the animal that ate them, let’s say a blue heron, will have to
change its food chain and begin to eat the small fish from the pond. The
kingfisher which originally ate the small fish with no completion now has to
compete with the blue heron for food. This will bring down the population for
both birds.
Ronja: Amphibians
aren’t only necessary for the other animals in the habitat, but also very
important to us. When they are very young, just hatched from their egg they
swim to the algae and eat it. When they eat the algae they are helping us by
cleaning the water. But because of the UVB rays and chemicals leaking into the
water the amphibians won’t hatch from their eggs, so they won’t clean our
water, costing us way more money and time. Nothing anyone of us wants to give
up.
Cara: And lastly they
are biological indicators, like we said before. With the amphibians dying off
all over the world, not just in a few habitats, it is obvious that we have a
worldwide issue on our hands. That amphibians are declining is a clear sign
that highly negative environmental changes are happening that are going to
threaten almost every other animal species and especially humans. This
extinction of life on earth could be the begin of a worldwide extinction if we
do not react immediately. To sum up what we have shown you, we have found
another small clip.
Ronja: Obviously
amphibians are important for the wellbeing of the ecosystems and ourselves. Now
we have to ask ourselves one question in order to solve the amphibian decline:
why are they declining? They are declining for a variety of reasons. Scientist
started to observe amphibian extinction in the 1980’s and already more than 200
species have disappeared completely. Reasons for that such as pesticides,
herbicides, habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, non-native species,
industry exhaust, contamination, radiation, fragmentation, disease, toxic
substances and change in the use of the land. Pretty much what ever alters the
eco system in the slightest, will harm amphibians. Because of their permeable
skin they absorb many different substances. It is hard for them to hide from
pollutants because they live their live on both land and water. Chemicals like
fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides enter the ecosystem by being washed down
from agricultural farms, and into the water source. The most common around the
world is an herbicide called Atrazine. Atrazine is an herbicide that is capable
of creating female sex organs in a male frog, let that sink in…and also helps
with the decline of salamanders. It only takes 0.01 parts per billion to have
this occur. Atrazine became so common in the past few years that it was already
found in drinking water. The Great Crested Newt is greatly affected by run off
herbicides.
Cara: Another way of
disturbing the ecosystem of amphibians is by changing it completely. And one
way of doing that is by building right on top of it. First people will drain
the water from the area, then fill up the hole and pave cement all over it. You
took away an amphibian’s habitat in three easy steps. But, some of you are
thinking that sometimes they leave ponds in an area. And you are most certainly
right. But the issue with that is sometimes they will park the trucks, or put
supplies there, packing down the earth to make it impossible for the amphibian
to borough into the earth.
Ronja: The next problem
is the isolation of certain species because there are no larger contiguous ecosystems
anymore and species are more threatened in isolation of other species they
could interact with and grow. Also, when you are building houses by an
amphibian’s habitat you will most likely cutting down the trees in the
surrounding area. By doing this you will be taking away the valuable shade that
amphibians need in order to survive. The shade keeps the water at a certain
temperature for all the organisms to thrive on. Without the shade the
temperature rises, making the amphibians sick. The shade also limits the amount
of UVB rays that can enter the water. UVB rays, like we said before, are very
damaging if too much gets onto an amphibians egg. With the deforestation in the
Application Mountains many species like the Jordan’s Lungless Salamander are declining.
Over all, destruction of habitat is the number one reason amphibians are being
endangered.
Cara: But, that is in a
public area any one can get to. Why don’t we just create a conservation area to
keep amphibians safe? Well, like we said before there is water runoff, and
there is also acid rain that transports chemicals from the air, or from far
away and bring them to the area or protection. This problem won’t be that easy
to solve.
Ronja: Also, with the
climate changing it is getting hotter. The bodies of water where the amphibians
live have been drying off because of this. But, endangering the amphibians
isn’t only from altering their habitat. When we remove them completely from
their habitat is also bad. For example, people will remove them in order to
have food, a pet or to use for educational purposes. By doing this you are
taking one more important amphibian out of the world, and killing it for your
own needs. Also, if you transport an amphibian to much it is more likely to get
in contact with a fungus called Chytridiomycosis. It reacts with their skin and
is very lethal. Diseases, sometimes brought into a habitat by introduced
species, are another important reason for amphibian declines. Especially in
populations that just live in one spot on earth or do not have a lot of representatives
in their species are highly endangered by diseases that can extinct this
certain species. Here is another small video to remind you of how they are
being endangered.
Cara: Overall
Amphibians are declining in a variety of different ways, and we have the power
to stop it. In the past few decades we have seen a trend of amphibians dying.
And in the next 20 to 50 years it is a huge possibility that a big part of the
amphibian population will be gone. So, how can we change this from happening?
We can do this in many different ways. To start we have to educate ourselves,
and the people around us. By doing this we will understand more about our slimy
friends and what they need to thrive. Next we have to get the word out about
the problem. We need people who others look up too. The more people get
involved with saving amphibians the more attention this topic will get. Then
the government may take a look at the issue.
Ronja: You can also help
fundraise. There are many sites to help save any type or amphibian. People
dedicate their lives to this matter. I think we made it pretty clear that you
shouldn’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. The Yellow Legged Frog in
California’s Central Valley is greatly affected by these chemicals. If we all
work together we can achieve the impossible! Here is a video to give you more
ideas.
Cara: In conclusion, we
need to work as a team for anything to be solved. So, today we talked about amphibians,
their importance, why they are declining, and how to help. But, I bet there is
still at least one person in this room who doesn’t care if they see all the
frogs gone. They are slimy, and not pleasant to look at. But would you rather
look at a frog every once and a while, or, would you rather be swarmed by bugs
everywhere you go. Oh, and by the way, you probably won’t live to see that
happen. And what happens to amphibians will eventually happens to us, bugs are
not going to be the only issue to deal with.
Ronja: Amphibians are
not a special problem: they represent the way we treat our world, animals and
plants on it at the moment. If we keep going the way we are on now, we’ll soon
face the extinction of 30 % of the approximately 7.000 amphibians, which would
mean the most serious extinction of amphibians since 10.000 years ago. In
Ontario already 8 of 27 amphibian species have a threatened status. There are
tons of animals out there, endangered species and problems to deal with. Let’s
pick one and solve it. Here is our last video and then we will have our three
discussion questions.
Ronja: Now that we are done, is there any questions?
Cara: Discussion
question:
1) Have any of your
views on amphibians changed? Why or why not?
2) What other animals
do you feel are under appreciated, and why?
3) What is the most
dangerous problem amphibians have to deal with in your opinion? Is this also
going to infect us? How can we help?
4) What did you take with
you from our presentation?
Thrilling huh?
Here is the Prezi:
http://prezi.com/zvcsicgiwow5/amphibians-the-most-amazing-presentation-by-cara-livingsto/
There you have it! Our amazing presentation on AMPHIBIANS! I had a blast learning about it, because I went into it hate amphibians, now I have found a new respect for them. They are amazing!
