Observations of
boreal toad (Bufo boreas) breeding populations in northwestern Utah.
Having already vanished throughout much of the southern Rocky Mountains, the
boreal toad is one species with a questionable future.
Like several other species, including the western toad and tiger salamander, the
boreal toad has seriously declined throughout the Rockies since the 1980s.
In their survey of 105 locations in the central Rocky Mountains previously known to contain amphibians, the researchers note that the leopard frog inhabits only four of 33 sites where it once abounded, and the
boreal toad is now seen in just 10 of 59 areas it had frequented.
The to-do list for Vail Resorts includes the Breckenridge resort's plans to add 165 acres of Forest Service land, along with real estate development of its own land at the foot of Peak 7, which has been controversial because of wetlands known as Cucumber Gulch, home to the rare
boreal toad, which the U.S.
According to the Park Service, in less than one decade, populations of
boreal toad (pictured here) along the Alaskan coast went from abundant to 1 nonexistent, and scientists suspect the fungus might have played a role in the drastic decline.
But last year, wildlife officials found it in lowland leopard frogs (Rana yavapaiensis) outside the city of Phoenix, Arizona, and in
boreal toads (Bufo boreas boreas) near Denver, Colorado.
Colorado's leopard frogs and
boreal toads may be victims of fungal-related die-offs: 70 to 95 percent of sites in Colorado, once abundant with
boreal toads are now entirely devoid of them.
The amphibian outbreaks of chytrids reminded Carey of mass die-offs among
boreal toads and leopard frogs that she had witnessed as a graduate student.
* Scientists confirmed that a chytrid out break killed
boreal toads in Colorado, the second cluster of fungal fatalities in wild U.S.
The chytrid skin fungus, which made headlines last year after killing off amphibians around the world, has now turned up in
boreal toads from Clear Creek County, west of Denver.
western toad - of a great variety of habitats from southern Alaska to Baja California west of the Rockies