Are you listening for frogs? Metro Detroit environmentalists documenting amphibians
Michigan's shrinking wetlands have put a crimp on the frog population, which has had to adjust their habitat. Detroit Free Press staff
Environmentalists are recruiting volunteers to canvass metro Detroit documenting the area's amphibians
As frogs go, so goes Michigan.
That's the message environmentalist are sending as they recruit volunteers to canvass metro Detroit — from suburban yards to industrialized areas — documenting the area's amphibians.
“They are important environmental indicators,’’ said Ruth Marcec, director of the National Amphibian Conversation Center at the Detroit Zoo. “If anything is off in the environment, the amphibians are the red flag; the first things that let us know that something is wrong."
Frogs help with everything from controlling pests to keeping our waterways clean, she said.
“They (frogs) eat tons and tons of mosquitos and other pests and kind of keep those at bay. They are important for water quality, especially tadpoles and larval salamanders. They, through what they eat and how they grow, they help keep our water clean. Toads and salamanders that burrow in the soil are important for aerating the soil and helping our trees and plants survive.’’
Two environmental groups, FrogWatch USA and Friends of the Rouge, are concerned about frog life diminishing as land is turned into subdivisions and housing projects.
“Amphibians are the most endangered species of animals in the world,’’ said Sally Petrella, Volunteer monitoring program manager for Friends of the Rouge, located in Dearborn.
“Half of the nearly 7,600 of the species are in endangered and threatened with extinction. It’s a global crisis.’’
Petrella said Michigan has lost 60% of its original wetlands. The Rouge River Watershed contains portions of three counties: Oakland, Wastenaw and Wayne. According to Friends of the Rouge, Oakland County has lost 60% of its wetlands, Washtenaw, 53%, and Wayne County, 90%.
To help monitor the frog population, both Friends of the Rouge and FrogWatch USA, train citizens to go out in the spring to collect data and listen for frogs in the wetlands to identify what types are calling.
There are two toad and 12 frog species native to Michigan. As the state begins to warm up from late winter and throughout spring and summer, each of these species goes through their own breeding season.
Half of the species are common in the wetlands types found in and around urban areas such as ponds, lakes and even ditches throughout Michigan. The other half may be challenging to locate or they are isolated to certain areas of Michigan, such as the Upper Peninsula, on Isle Royale, or on the western side of the state.
FrogWatch USA is a citizen science program that trains volunteers to collect data on frog and toad populations in a scientific manner, which can then be added to a nationwide database.
The training class is four hours long and teaches volunteers about citizen science, amphibians, wetland types, the monitoring protocol and data collection method used and how to identify native species by their breeding calls.
Volunteers can survey and collect data throughout the season, which for Michigan is typically late February, early March to late July into early August.
After training, volunteers register a site where they want to monitor. Most volunteers come to class with a site in mind. If they do not know where to survey, “we help them find a site,’’ said Rebecca Johnson, who works with FrogWatch.
Once frogs and toads begin calling and outside temperatures and conditions are appropriate per the protocol, volunteers can begin to survey, twice a week at the most during the season.
“With people going out and listening to the frogs and determine what species are there, that’s helping us understand how our development is affecting these frogs,’’ said Marcec. “Using that information, knowing what species are going away, we can determine how to manage the land better and help bring those species back.’’
A pond can be monitored or land managed to help a frog in danger resurface.
Contact Perry A. Farrell: email@example.com
Sign up for frog training
Two groups are holding training sessions starting later this month for frog and toad surveyors.
The Friends of the Rouge
Register here for the following workshop dates:
- Saturday, Feb. 17 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Canton Summit on the Park, 46000 Summit Parkway in Canton.
- Saturday, March 10 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Farmington Hills Council Chambers, 31555 W. 11 Mile in Farmington Hills.
- Saturday, March 17 from 10 a.m., to noon at the Livonia Civic Center Library, 32777 Five Mile in Livonia.
Register here for training classes, which will be held at the Ford Education Center of the Detroit Zoo on the following dates:
- Wednesday, Jan. 31, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Sunday, Feb. 4, noon to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Sunday, Feb. 18, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, Feb. 20, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Thursday, March 8, 5 to 9 p.m.