Please write a two to three paragraphs summarizing the article on amphibian decline & deformities. Specifically address the four causes of this phenomenon and any interesting supporting facts.
This article is dealing with the causes of deformities in amphibians. I personally didn't even know that there was a widespread problem with deformities in amphibians at all, but the article states that the problem is both very prevalent and increasing. It lists four main causes of the deformities: ultraviolet radiation, pollution, parasite infections, and the alteration of habitats by humans.
The first cause listed is ultraviolet radiation. While this could account for many of the deformities in the eyes of adult frogs, scientists do not believe that it is responsible for the bulk of the other deformities that exist such as extra legs. The next cause listed is pollution, but again, it is not seen as the major cause of the problem. Scientists did find that a chemical that is very common in polluted areas can cause poorly formed hind legs in frogs. But, the studies did not conclusively show that this was the major issue going on. The next issue is parasites. In parasites, scientists finally found the answer to many of their questions. After extensive tests, they found that parasites were responsible for the bulk of the disfigurement of amphibians. They also found that there is a huge amount of these parasites, an epidemic of them living among amphibians and causing problems. This brings the article to it's final point: humans altering habitats. Scientists believe that the epidemic of these damaging parasites can be directly linked to human alteration of habitats.
In the end, the article states that the best explanation for these deformities is in fact the parasite problem. However, the other three causes do have some affect on the population of amphibians that are struggling with these deformities as well. I thought this article was really interesting mostly just because I haven't ever heard of deformed amphibians before.
Several kids in Henderson, Minnesota found frogs in a local pond with severe deformities. Some of the kids had no hind limbs while others had five or more hind limbs. Researchers have found that there have been random mutations in every population that have occurred since the early 1900s. Some scientists believe that these deformities are the effect of “greater exposure to ultraviolent radiation, chemical contamination of water, or parasite epidemics.” Other factors such as amphibians’ unshelled eggs and permeable skin make them even more vulnerable.
Ultraviolent radiation is one suspect to the cause of the deformities. This radiation can damage immune systems and cause genetic mutations. Another plausible factor could be water pollution, more specifically pesticides. However, it is extremely difficult for toxicologists to isolate a single chemical as the primary suspect. Despite this challenge, one chemical seemed to isolate itself from the rest. That chemical is methoprene. Generally, methoprene is used as an alternative to a banned pesticide known as DDT.
The final potential factor is parasites. Scientists guessed that the parasitic trematode, such as flatworms or flukes, could be causing these variations. To try to prove their hypothesis, the researchers collected several of the deformed frogs from the pond and dissected them. They found that their were cysts present in the deformed frogs. The cysts consisted of parasite that was cluttered beneath the skin that were located near the hind legs. They have now identified Ribeiroia as one of the components to the deformities. By studying the life cycle of Ribeiroia, researchers are able to learn more about the deformities occurring. Ponds are found to have more fertilizer runoff and cattle manure, which causes an influx of algae to grow. This encourages an abundance of snails, which are the hosts for the Ribeieroia parasites.
Of the four causes of deformities in frogs, i only expected one of them. The pollution I expected. You always hear about pollution in ponds and in the water supply and how it affects the animals in the area. I expected that pollution would be a main contributor to the deformities. If our air supply were as polluted as their water, we would probably have many deformities as well. The idea of humans affecting the water and contributing to the change in their habitat makes sense and was somewhat expected as well. However, in terms of humans I have a;ways thought about the pollution, but less about their habitats. It makes sense that if we change their habitat that they may have some deformities, it just isn't anything I had every thought about. The next two causes I really hadn't thought about. I had no idea that UV radiation and parasitic infections would be such a problem. It seems that since frogs are always out in the sun, that UV rays wouldn't affect then, but it's obviously affecting the eyes of some frogs. It;'s also understandable why parasites would contribute to deformities, it's again, just not something I had every thought about. This article made me realize issues in the frog environment that had never seen as issues.
The article was interesting, I saw a show about this that explained a parasite that did the same thing (I am assuming it is the same parasite), and I never would have thought that a parasite would purposely make a host unable to live (though I guess this is just an intermediate host). I find it fascinating that a parasite has constructed such a complex life cycle just so the parasite can get into its main host. Plus I would like to exactly how the frog causes growth of new legs, because I do not think it is something that anything would do naturally! ( plus looking at x-rays of the said frogs online, I see that the limbs look to be fully functioning, so it intrigues me even more). If putting glass beads in the frog causes the same problems, then part of it has to be the frog’s legs reacting to the over growth. Based on this article I have to agree that the most likely cause of these deformities would have to be the from parasites. But I guess the UV light and radiation also has its affects, so I do not know if there is a plausible solution. After all, most factories do not care about Hermit and his friends ☺. (muppet refernce). Hope this is long enough (i am not sure what else to comment on)
The article explains the multiple reasons that are causing amphibian deformities around the world. The majority of these reasons are in the end caused by humans. There has been evidence of amphibian deformities through out history, but scientists began to take notice again after a middle school class collected many amphibians from a local pond and noticed many have deformities. After this caught national attention, many started to realize there were many amphibian deformities all over the world. Scientists began to experiment to see what is causing these deformities and they have come up with four likely reasons. The first cause talked about in Explaining Frog Deformities was the ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet radiation can damage their immune system and cause genetic mutations. Human-made chemicals have been thinning out layers of the ozone, which cause ultraviolet radiation. The second was pollution, many chemicals have been found in the water, where frogs are born and begin their development. These chemicals lead to deformities in embryos as well has hinder limbs in frogs. What I found interesting is retinoic acid that causes deformities in amphibians also can cause miscarriages or birth defects in woman. The third cause are from parasites. The parasites plant themselves in the snails, when they leave they travel to the tadpoles, where it embeds itself by the tadpoles legs, which then leads to defects. The reason the third cause ends up being the humans fault is because fertilizer or cattle manure that is found in near by ponds create a lot of algae, which attracts snails, which eat algae, which then means more parasites. I found this article very interesting, I learned a lot on how certain choices can have a negative effect on the environment. I also never thought about the effects on amphibian deformities might possibly lead to human or other animal deformities. This article was an eye opener and I learned a lot from it, people need to be more aware of what their actions have on the environment now or in the future.
This article is dealing with the causes of deformities in amphibians. I personally didn't even know that there was a widespread problem with deformities in amphibians at all, but the article states that the problem is both very prevalent and increasing. It lists four main causes of the deformities: ultraviolet radiation, pollution, parasite infections, and the alteration of habitats by humans.
ReplyDeleteThe first cause listed is ultraviolet radiation. While this could account for many of the deformities in the eyes of adult frogs, scientists do not believe that it is responsible for the bulk of the other deformities that exist such as extra legs. The next cause listed is pollution, but again, it is not seen as the major cause of the problem. Scientists did find that a chemical that is very common in polluted areas can cause poorly formed hind legs in frogs. But, the studies did not conclusively show that this was the major issue going on. The next issue is parasites. In parasites, scientists finally found the answer to many of their questions. After extensive tests, they found that parasites were responsible for the bulk of the disfigurement of amphibians. They also found that there is a huge amount of these parasites, an epidemic of them living among amphibians and causing problems. This brings the article to it's final point: humans altering habitats. Scientists believe that the epidemic of these damaging parasites can be directly linked to human alteration of habitats.
In the end, the article states that the best explanation for these deformities is in fact the parasite problem. However, the other three causes do have some affect on the population of amphibians that are struggling with these deformities as well. I thought this article was really interesting mostly just because I haven't ever heard of deformed amphibians before.
Several kids in Henderson, Minnesota found frogs in a local pond with severe deformities. Some of the kids had no hind limbs while others had five or more hind limbs. Researchers have found that there have been random mutations in every population that have occurred since the early 1900s. Some scientists believe that these deformities are the effect of “greater exposure to ultraviolent radiation, chemical contamination of water, or parasite epidemics.” Other factors such as amphibians’ unshelled eggs and permeable skin make them even more vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteUltraviolent radiation is one suspect to the cause of the deformities. This radiation can damage immune systems and cause genetic mutations. Another plausible factor could be water pollution, more specifically pesticides. However, it is extremely difficult for toxicologists to isolate a single chemical as the primary suspect. Despite this challenge, one chemical seemed to isolate itself from the rest. That chemical is methoprene. Generally, methoprene is used as an alternative to a banned pesticide known as DDT.
The final potential factor is parasites. Scientists guessed that the parasitic trematode, such as flatworms or flukes, could be causing these variations. To try to prove their hypothesis, the researchers collected several of the deformed frogs from the pond and dissected them. They found that their were cysts present in the deformed frogs. The cysts consisted of parasite that was cluttered beneath the skin that were located near the hind legs. They have now identified Ribeiroia as one of the components to the deformities. By studying the life cycle of Ribeiroia, researchers are able to learn more about the deformities occurring. Ponds are found to have more fertilizer runoff and cattle manure, which causes an influx of algae to grow. This encourages an abundance of snails, which are the hosts for the Ribeieroia parasites.
Of the four causes of deformities in frogs, i only expected one of them. The pollution I expected. You always hear about pollution in ponds and in the water supply and how it affects the animals in the area. I expected that pollution would be a main contributor to the deformities. If our air supply were as polluted as their water, we would probably have many deformities as well.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of humans affecting the water and contributing to the change in their habitat makes sense and was somewhat expected as well. However, in terms of humans I have a;ways thought about the pollution, but less about their habitats. It makes sense that if we change their habitat that they may have some deformities, it just isn't anything I had every thought about.
The next two causes I really hadn't thought about. I had no idea that UV radiation and parasitic infections would be such a problem. It seems that since frogs are always out in the sun, that UV rays wouldn't affect then, but it's obviously affecting the eyes of some frogs. It;'s also understandable why parasites would contribute to deformities, it's again, just not something I had every thought about. This article made me realize issues in the frog environment that had never seen as issues.
The article was interesting, I saw a show about this that explained a parasite that did the same thing (I am assuming it is the same parasite), and I never would have thought that a parasite would purposely make a host unable to live (though I guess this is just an intermediate host). I find it fascinating that a parasite has constructed such a complex life cycle just so the parasite can get into its main host. Plus I would like to exactly how the frog causes growth of new legs, because I do not think it is something that anything would do naturally! ( plus looking at x-rays of the said frogs online, I see that the limbs look to be fully functioning, so it intrigues me even more). If putting glass beads in the frog causes the same problems, then part of it has to be the frog’s legs reacting to the over growth. Based on this article I have to agree that the most likely cause of these deformities would have to be the from parasites. But I guess the UV light and radiation also has its affects, so I do not know if there is a plausible solution. After all, most factories do not care about Hermit and his friends ☺. (muppet refernce). Hope this is long enough (i am not sure what else to comment on)
ReplyDeleteThe article explains the multiple reasons that are causing amphibian deformities around the world. The majority of these reasons are in the end caused by humans. There has been evidence of amphibian deformities through out history, but scientists began to take notice again after a middle school class collected many amphibians from a local pond and noticed many have deformities. After this caught national attention, many started to realize there were many amphibian deformities all over the world. Scientists began to experiment to see what is causing these deformities and they have come up with four likely reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe first cause talked about in Explaining Frog Deformities was the ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet radiation can damage their immune system and cause genetic mutations. Human-made chemicals have been thinning out layers of the ozone, which cause ultraviolet radiation. The second was pollution, many chemicals have been found in the water, where frogs are born and begin their development. These chemicals lead to deformities in embryos as well has hinder limbs in frogs. What I found interesting is retinoic acid that causes deformities in amphibians also can cause miscarriages or birth defects in woman. The third cause are from parasites. The parasites plant themselves in the snails, when they leave they travel to the tadpoles, where it embeds itself by the tadpoles legs, which then leads to defects. The reason the third cause ends up being the humans fault is because fertilizer or cattle manure that is found in near by ponds create a lot of algae, which attracts snails, which eat algae, which then means more parasites.
I found this article very interesting, I learned a lot on how certain choices can have a negative effect on the environment. I also never thought about the effects on amphibian deformities might possibly lead to human or other animal deformities. This article was an eye opener and I learned a lot from it, people need to be more aware of what their actions have on the environment now or in the future.