The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society
Volume 28, Number 3; March, 2001
New Discoveries
Reprinted from HerPET-POURRI, by Ellin Beltz, in the Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society, Vol.36, No.1, January 2001.
"When the trout arrive, the amphibian exodus begins" states the New York Times Science Section [November 28. 2000]. A study compared 2,000 high Sierra lakes in California. Those stocked with trout were "the main cause of the frog's disappearance because the stocking of fish was the only significant difference between the two pristine preserves.... Trout are voracious predators of [mostly aquatic] mountain yellow-legged frogs, devouring tadpoles as well as adults." Other studies of the long-toed salamander correlated these results. Since the frogs and salamander larvae are at the bottom of a fragile, high-alpine food chain, declines in these species have led to declines in others, including garter snakes. About 8,000 lakes have been artificially stocked; some local communities make their livelihoods on fishing and aquatic recreation. Actually, the headline is not quite correct, "Exodus" makes it sound as if the amphibians somehow survive this experience.
