Amphibian populations at Yellowstone, the world’s oldest national park, are in steep decline according to a major study reported in the journal PNAS. The authors link this to the drying out of wetlands where the animals live and breed, which is in turn being driven by long-term climate change.
Visitors flock to Yellowstone to see its geysers, hot springs and bubbling mud pots, fuelled by ongoing volcanism. The park’s vast forests and grasslands are also home to grizzly bears, wolves and bison. But it is to much less conspicuous inhabitants – frogs, toads and salamanders – that scientists look for early indications of environmental degradation. The results, suggest that climate warming has already disrupted one of the best-protected ecosystems on Earth.
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