cgameson
Treefrogs and Biodiversity
I found this little treefrog blending into a rock on a rainy walk near the University of Maryland, College Park. The species of frog I saw was either a gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor) or Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis). It is almost impossible to tell these two species of frog apart just by looking at them. Both of these frogs are known as cryptic species, meaning they are two separate species that are genetically different but look exactly alike. Each species has a different number of chromosomes and a different vocalization during the summer breeding period. For many years, there was much discussion on whether one was a subspecies of the other. That was until there was genetic testing conducted in the 1980s that confirmed they were genetically distinct enough to be classified as two different species. More information on Maryland’s frog species can be found on the Maryland DNR website: dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/herps/Fie...
One of the UN’s sustainability goals #15: Life on Land, seeks to preserve biodiversity as part of its goal. Building a full picture of the species that are living here helps to preserve biodiversity and the genetic material that exists. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), disruptions in biodiversity in an ecosystem increase the likelihood of zoonotic diseases jumping from an environment to the human population. It is estimated that over 75% of emerging diseases come from areas suffering from human-caused environmental disturbances. When a region becomes “unbalanced” with only a few species, it allows for disease to spread more rapidly than if the area had a diverse population of many different organisms. More information can be found about the impacts of biodiversity on disease transmission on WHO’s website: who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/biodiversity#:~:text....
Treefrogs and Biodiversity
I found this little treefrog blending into a rock on a rainy walk near the University of Maryland, College Park. The species of frog I saw was either a gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor) or Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis). It is almost impossible to tell these two species of frog apart just by looking at them. Both of these frogs are known as cryptic species, meaning they are two separate species that are genetically different but look exactly alike. Each species has a different number of chromosomes and a different vocalization during the summer breeding period. For many years, there was much discussion on whether one was a subspecies of the other. That was until there was genetic testing conducted in the 1980s that confirmed they were genetically distinct enough to be classified as two different species. More information on Maryland’s frog species can be found on the Maryland DNR website: dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/herps/Fie...
One of the UN’s sustainability goals #15: Life on Land, seeks to preserve biodiversity as part of its goal. Building a full picture of the species that are living here helps to preserve biodiversity and the genetic material that exists. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), disruptions in biodiversity in an ecosystem increase the likelihood of zoonotic diseases jumping from an environment to the human population. It is estimated that over 75% of emerging diseases come from areas suffering from human-caused environmental disturbances. When a region becomes “unbalanced” with only a few species, it allows for disease to spread more rapidly than if the area had a diverse population of many different organisms. More information can be found about the impacts of biodiversity on disease transmission on WHO’s website: who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/biodiversity#:~:text....