Latest News
On April 5 the film, "Frogs: The Thin Green Line" premiered on PBS. The Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog played a starring role. The film will be shown several more times in coming weeks and can also be viewed in full on the PBS web site. Check it out.
The April 2009 issue of National Geographic magazine has an excellent story about amphibian declines and the chytrid fungus. The plight of the mountain yellow-legged frog is prominently featured.
The April 2009 issue of Fly Rod & Reel features an insightful article by Ted Williams ("Got Trout") about the lawsuit over fish stocking in California that was recently won by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Rivers Council. This is far and away the best article written so far on this issue. To download a copy, go to the In the News > Newsroom page. Additional details on this topic are available on the California Department of Fish and Game web site and in my 4/18/08 and 11/21/08 Frog Blog posts.
Purpose of this Site
This
site provides up-to-date information on the natural history and conservation
of the mountain yellow-legged frog, a group of two closely-related
species (Rana muscosa and Rana sierrae) that inhabit California's
highest mountains.
As an aquatic ecologist fascinated by the fauna of mountain habitats, I've spent the last 15 years studying mountain yellow-legged frogs in the Sierra Nevada. Unfortunately, this research and that of my colleagues indicates that this once-abundant amphibian is disappearing. Many of the lakes and ponds in which I observed mountain yellow-legged frogs just a few years ago no longer contain them, leaving behind an eerie silence.
Against this background of population disappearances, it is heartening to see the growing interest in conserving these frogs. To further that interest, this site distills the burgeoning scientific and management literature on mountain yellow-legged frogs down into the key facts related to natural history, current status, threats, and ongoing conservation efforts.
The information on this site is based on the latest available scientific studies, but also includes the scientific opinions of its author, Dr. Roland Knapp.
