Letters to the Editor

Write a Letter »  Read Letters »

 Email this page  Print this page

Spring Peeping

Local frog-watchers keep their eyes and ears open for a good cause.

Next month, the boisterous sound of frogs will erupt from the pond near Ken and Nancy Fullerton’s longtime home in Coventry. With binoculars, the couple watches and listens every year as the dark-masked frogs throng the pond’s surface, the males’ throats ballooning with song. Wood frogs quack like ducks, pickerel frogs snore.

As volunteers in a citizen science project called FrogWatch, the Fullertons collect data for an intensive statewide frog-monitoring program run by Roger Williams Park Zoo. Last year, more than a hundred local FrogWatchers surveyed eighty sites in all five counties. Training begins this month for new volunteers, who learn how to distinguish the vocalizations of native species to record basic weekly data. No science background required—anyone with an interest in nature is invited to participate.

Though most of Rhode Island’s frog populations are considered stable, Roger Williams Park Zoo Conservation Programs Coordinator Lou Perrotti says it is important to track closely any fluctuations. Currently, the threat of extinction menaces at least one in every three amphibian species worldwide. A fungal disease called chytridiomycosis is one of the most urgent crises, decimating frog populations in Panama. Like other conservation organizations, the zoo is stepping up to help combat the crisis with programs like FrogWatch and collaboration with the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in Panama, where Perrotti has created an insect rearing facility to feed frogs in treatment for the disease.

The Fullertons credit their FrogWatch participation with heightening their delight in the outdoors. “We’ve had some really exciting learning moments,” says Nancy. Perrotti hopes the program will continue to attract new volunteers and raise awareness of local ecosystems. “Not all the amazing biodiversity is in the deep, faraway rainforest,” he says. “There is plenty right here in our own backyards.” To join this year’s FrogWatch, contact Audra Dolan, manager of volunteer resources at Roger Williams Park Zoo, at 785-3510 ext. 356 or adolan@rwpzoo.org.

By Sara Lenoe