Event

Science: Kerry Kriger: The Amphibian Extinction Crisis

Frog populations are declining at unprecedented rates, with nearly one-third of the world's 6,000+ amphibian species threatened with extinction. Struggling against pollution, infectious diseases, habitat loss, invasive species, climate change, and overharvesting for the pet and food trades, amphibians are fighting to survive, and Kerry Kriger, founder and executive director of the conservation organization Save the Frogs, believes we should help. Kriger describes frogs role as bioindicators; as an integral part of the food web, themselves eating ticks, mosquitoes and other disease carriers. Some of the preservation methods Kriger suggests are unquestionably frog-specificdon't eat frog legsbut others, such as refusing to use pesticides and conserving resources, have even broader ecological implications. Presented as part of Seattle Science Lectures, with Pacific Science Center.