Salamanders are quietly Vanishing from Central American Cloud Forests

Shalini Singh
Central America/Mexico/West Indies
From: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/02/10/salamanders-are-quietly-vanishing-from-central-american-cloud-forests/

Salamanders have thrived in population for over 30 years in Mexico and Guatemala. Although recently the population has been decreasing significantly and possibly heading for extinction. Researchers and scientists have just recently noticed this major change in the salamander’s population. Back in the 1970’s research shows that 10 to 15 salamanders could be seen in 1 hour. Biologists have been worried that habitat destruction and climate change has been declining the amphibian species since the 1980’s. Currently some scientists believe that chytrid, a deathly fungus is the cause of the drop in population. Although biologist Davis Wake believes it all has to do with global warming. He has come to the conclusion that warming temperatures have caused the salamanders to move up high on the forest slopes to less hospitable habitats.
Salamander’s ancestors were the first land vertebrates; if they go extinct many other species are also at risk. This article shows just one of the many examples of how climate change is affecting us. Although some may think salamanders are small and not important in our ecosystem, David Wake has proved that climate change will affect everyone and everything. Climate change is a rapid process and greenhouse gas emissions may be the cause of the possible extinction of salamanders in Mexico and Guatemalan cloud forests.