Salamander losses in Mexico, Guatemala cause worry

By: Eloise and Mariah

Area: Central America/Mexico/West Indies

Article: Salamander losses in Mexico, Guatemala cause worry

Website: http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKTRE5187PD20090209?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

            Various species of salamanders have experienced dramatic population drops since the 1970s, “driven to the brink probably by a warming climate and other factors,” said U.S scientists on Monday. The downfall in salamander’s population is the latest piece of evidence of the many losses. Biologist David Wake and several colleagues tracked two-dozen salamander of varying species in Guatemala and southern Mexico; after they compared the population of now to the 1970s has gone down immensely. “Four species were apparently completely gone and a fifth virtually wiped out,” said Wake. The causes for so many drops in salamander population is most likely due to climate change, the warming temperatures forcing salamanders to higher and less “welcoming” elevations along with habitat destruction and a fungal disease these are only a few things destroying salamanders habitats. “We have documented what has long been feared—that tropical salamanders are being hit hard by something and are disappearing,” said Wake in a telephone interview. As we have heard many times scientists are worried that climate change will have a horrible impact on animal populations first hitting the polar bears in the Artic. Several experts see amphibians as the canary in the coalmine, warning of future disasters for today’s animal kingdom.

            I found this article important because we have all heard about the polar bears and the melting but if you loose one thing in the “circle of life” than it all comes crashing down around us. Like it said in the article, salamanders are like the canaries in the coalmines, they warn you of the future disasters that could dramatically affect the world. I feel that this is also important because they may be icky slimy things but they are really important to our environment if these crazy things have happened we need to change the way we do things and make things better while we can.