Frog deformities caused by parasites, not pesticides.

ASSOCIATED PRESS ^ | May. 06, 2002 | JEFF BARNARD

[grundle]

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthtribune/news/nation/3206507.htm

Posted on Mon, May. 06, 2002

Study reports parasitic worms cause frog deformities

BY JEFF BARNARD

ASSOCIATED PRESS

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- After slogging through 101 ponds and wetlands in five western states, scientists on the trail of a mysterious outbreak of deformities in frogs have settled on a microscopic parasitic flatworm as the prime suspect.

Linked with existing laboratory studies showing that the trematode known as Ribeiroia ondatrae can cause the frogs to sprout extra legs, the new field work closes the loop by showing a direct correlation between the prevalence of the parasite and the number of deformed frogs, scientists said.

"There's still work to do, but this nails it,'' said Stan Sessions, associate professor of biology at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., who did not take part in the study, but has been working on the mystery since 1990.

The study was published in the May issue of Ecological Monographs, the journal of the Ecological Society of America.

Since the late 1980s, scientists have been concerned about catastrophic declines in populations of frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibian species, particularly in Australia, South America, Central America and high-altitude regions of the American West.

In the 1990s, reports started popping up around the United States of large numbers of deformed frogs. Scientists suspected pesticides, ultraviolet light and trematodes as causes.

The reason the deformities are becoming more common appears to be a chain reaction related to human changes to ecosystems, especially fertilizer and cow manure washing into the ponds, said Andrew Blaustein, professor of zoology at Oregon State University and one of the study's authors.

"We think the fertilizer is causing more algae,'' Blaustein said. "More algae means more snails to eat the algae. More snails means more parasites (because they live in the snails). More parasites means more malformed frogs.''

Pieter Johnson, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin and senior author of the study, said more surveys need to be done in the Midwest and East, where frog deformities are also prevalent, to conclusively put the blame on trematodes.

But the work already done showed 80 percent of the ponds with more than 5 percent malformations in one or more species of amphibians were built to water cattle, he said.

The researchers tested water samples for pesticides, but found no statistical link to the prevalence of malformations. They did not directly test for ultraviolet light levels, other than to note the elevations of the sites. The Environmental Protection Agency has shown UV radiation can induce deformities in laboratory tests.

[DrDavid]

It would be interesting to find out if any typical types of pollution that have been cleaned up kill the parasitic flatworms.

[Diddle E. Squat]

This story is guaranteed not to make the front pages of the major media. Probably will be buried in Page B23 of the Saturday editions.

[Diddle E. Squat]

But the media can't stop me from bookmarking!

Thanks for the good find.

[VoiceOfBruck]

I wonder if they can feed these parasites to chickens? No more fighting over the drumsticks!

[cake_crumb]

"This story is guaranteed not to make the front pages of the major media. Probably will be buried in Page B23 of the Saturday editions."

Ah, but they managed to blame people. It took a little DOING, but they managed it.

If pesticides aren't the problem, how about a study to see whether they can be a part of the solution? I say WORM THOSE SNAILS!

[PLK]

Gee, I recall our local rag carrying the story about the poor deformed froggies and the wicked pesticides. But wonder of all wonders, I didn't see THIS story in the paper this morning. They must have missed it on the AP wire. NOT!!!!!

[Cicero]

Interesting. There are web sites about the worldwide plague of deformed frogs all over the net. One of my kids did a school project on this topic, complete with pictures of frogs who looked as if they had taken thalidomide. Well, it's good news if they have pinned down the cause. I put people before frogs, but you have to feel sorry for the frogs after looking at all those pictures.

[Diddle E. Squat]

I say WORM THOSE SNAILS!

Don't let them BAIT you into SLUGging them!

[Diddle E. Squat]

forward the article, e-mail and phone 'em, and pester them for an explanation if they won't run this article.

Grass roots make a difference.

[jwalburg]

We knew they'd blame people somehow, but look how many steps removed!

"We think the fertilizer is causing more algae,'' Blaustein said. "More algae means more snails to eat the algae.
More snails means more parasites (because they live in the snails). More parasites means more malformed frogs.''

It took some doing, but they did it.

[cake_crumb]

There was a thing where scientists had some success with Fluconazole in treating adult frogs infected with Chytrid fungus. Don't know whether anything more has been done.

American scientists seem bent upon finding a human farmer factor for the parasites, so they will, whether there really is one or not.

[cake_crumb]

"It took some doing, but they did it."

Yep, they sure did. And of course, it's not the fault of just any old humans. It's the EEEEEVEEEEEL cattle ranchers fault. Of course, we can TRUST the results of this study: after all, they went in looking to pin the epidemic on pesticides, and wound up blaming ....COWS!!

Now they're looking to see if they can fit air quality into their theory. I wonder if they'll find that COW FARTS are the cause!!

BAN ALL BOVINES!!

[Dark Wing]

ping

[tracer]

Actually, they are not blaming people in general -- only elected officials and other parasites...

[Erasmus]

Looks like an escapee from a French restaurant.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

It would be interesting to find out if any typical types of pollution that have been cleaned up kill the parasitic flatworms.

A valid observation!!! Thank you.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Parasites have been discussed for years in the refereed literature. The "media" has discussed pesticides. Still, there are lots of amphibians disappearing worldwide.

[Destructor]

"GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- After slogging through 101 ponds and wetlands in five western states, scientists on the trail of a mysterious outbreak of deformities in frogs have settled on a microscopic parasitic flatworm as the prime suspect."

No they've done it! They've gone and taken the deformed frogs away from the environmentalists!! Have these truth seekers got no heart!?!