After the trips

As we analyzed the data following the trip, we found that the tadpoles were 95% gone. Given what had happened at other sites where the disease had already hit, it was clear the few remaining frogs would be mostly lost. Eventually, when they came down from the trees and came in contact with the infected water or other infected organisms they would succumb to the disease. The algae looked more abundant but in science, impressions are not good enough. We analyzed our samples and this confirmed our impression, the algae had increased by a couple hundred percents. My computer models of the metabolism (essentially the breathing rate) of the stream showed this had probably altered as well.

We received word from Heidi and Edgardo that there was going to be a dam built upstream of our field site on Rio Maria. This alteration in flow would really make an enormous change in the stream with vast disruption of flow and very likely huge amounts of sediment entering the stream channel from construction. The developer who promised two years before that the valley would not be developed did not stand by this statement. Rio Maria would never be the same, and Amanda’s next visit confirmed the dam had been installed and the damage to our study reach was extensive.

Matt, Scott and Karen keep giving talks on the disappearance of the frogs to scientific and general public crowds. Many don’t know about what has happened there, in spite of the fact that we are losing so many species.

Heidi and Edgardo continue their unending work at the El Valle Amphibian Rescue Center. They have added at least 7 new species to their collection since I was down there, and the public exhibits are now open. They have hosted several international film crews interested in the frog extinction issue. The initial flood of press that occurred immediately after word came out of the disease reaching El Valle is over, but there continues to be interest in the topic. Some money is coming in, but more is always needed. There is no end to the need for work and resources required to care for and propagate the frogs that lived in the wild around El Valle. People who want to contribute to their work can do so through the Houston Zoo’s website.

Matt and I continued on our other projects. One of our aims in the US is to conserve and manage prairie streams, and there is lots of work to do on this, and little known about these streams. Issues such as expansion of trees and shrubs into grasslands, grazing, and water pollution from agriculture all are threatening one of the most endangered types of streams in North America, and the more we can find out about them the better. Emma and Bob keep working on the Grand Canyon and how to keep the ecosystem natural in spite of the Glen Canyon dam and other upstream impoundments altering the discharge. Cathy keeps working on other tropical sites including the island of Trinidad where she works with a group studying how environment interacts with evolution of the unique guppy species found there. Alex has his focus on tundra streams in Alaska and Iceland and ultimately the influence of global warming on those streams. Life goes on and there are other battles to fight. Still, losing the frogs at El Valle took part of me away that will never be returned.

In spite of the loss of the frogs, I want to return to El Valle. The area is beautiful and the people are fantastic. The loss of the frogs and then the quality of Rio Maria has left me as determined as ever to help document what people are doing to the environment around them, and how we can mitigate the negative effects we have. It also has helped me appreciate what we have in the natural world, and taught me to appreciate it today, because it may be lost tomorrow.
I still don’t know how to react to the lost frogs of Panama. It is a sad topic, and it keeps going around in my mind. It is like losing a loved one; you never forget but the time might dull the pain.

This cannot be a story with a happy ending. It is the way the world is going. Humans are spreading out and taking more per person, and most of the species on earth are hurting as a result. I hope my childrens’ children have the possibility of seeing a place like Rio Maria or other biologically rich areas in the tropics, on coral reefs, or near their own homes. Protection will only happen if people today want it to happen. As a biologist, my job now is to let others know about what is being lost, and document what is happening as it is.