The use of amphibians as models in ecological research has a rich history. From an early foundation in studies of amphibian natural history sprang generations of scientists who used amphibians as models to address fundamental questions in population and community ecology. More recently, in the wake of an environment that human disturbances rapidly altered, ecologists have adopted amphibians as ...

Although a mitochondrial DNA barcode has been shown to be of great utility for species identification and discovery in an increasing number of diverse taxa, caution has been urged with its application to one of the most taxonomically diverse vertebrate groups — the amphibians. Here, we test three of the perceived shortcomings of a CO1 DNA barcode’s utility with a group of Holarctic amphibians: ...

Amphibians Matter Amphibians are an important component of the global ecosystem. In New York State, the biomass of one diminutive salamander species alone is equal to that of all the white-tailed deer. If you think that is impressive, that same salamander species in Virginia has a biomass 7x as great, another salamander species in Japan has a biomass 50x as great, and a frog species in Puerto R...

The Class Amphibia is one of the most severely impacted taxa in an on-going global biodiversity crisis. Because amphibian reproduction is tightly associated with the presence of water, climatic changes that affect water availability pose a particularly menacing threat to both aquatic and terrestrial-breeding amphibians. We explore the impacts that one facet of climate change-that of extreme var...

Although a mitochondrial DNA barcode has been shown to be of great utility for species identification and discovery in an increasing number of diverse taxa, caution has been urged with its application to one of the most taxonomically diverse vertebrate groups - the amphibians. Here, we test three of the perceived shortcomings of a CO1 DNA barcode's utility with a group of Holarctic amphibians: ...

Amphibians are currently suffering a period of mass extinction with approximately 20% of species under severe threat and more than 120 species already extinct. In light of this crisis there is an urgency to establish viable ex situ populations and also find the causes of in situ declines. The role of ultraviolet radiation and Vitamin D(3) in amphibian health directly influences both ex situ and...