Kauai Invasive Species Coqui News Committee Work Notification Online at www.hear.org/kisc/coqui_news March 3-7

POSTED: Work update at Lawai infestation site Friday, February 29, 2008

Upcoming control work is section 16 was not. In this issue: is scheduled to continue This week the crew will be using the week of March 3, 2008. herbicide in sections 17 through Crews will be arriving in the 22 to control re-growth of vege- Work Update 1 afternoon and working until tation. around 9:30 pm. Management 1 Surveying will focused on the Field crew work is sched- Unit Map intake side of the site (sections uled for Monday and Tues- 17-22) where several have day, March 3 and 4. been heard calling and will use Contact Phone 1 Eastern Dwarf Tree This past week the crew citric acid in this area. applied lime in section 2 as a The crew is also busy following Tidbit 1 ground drench. They also up on a reported coqui frog in sprayed citric acid in section Kalaheo. We will let everyone Fewer Leaves Could be 18 where they heard a calling 2 know if we can confirm and/or Behind Frog Decline frog. eliminate this coqui! Following up on reports from Giant , Tiny Frog 2 neighbors, the crew captured Identified Most At Risk two calling frogs in section 17. Report coqui frogs! No frogs were heard else- Links 2 where at the site. 643-PEST The frog in the cage in sec- tion 5 was calling but the one Coqui Frog Contact Phone Numbers:

= KISC: 246-0684 Management Area Map (from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm) = Crew Supervisor:

The map to the 651-8781 left shows the entire infestation = Hawaii Department of area. This area Agriculture: 274-3069 has been broken into management = Pest Hotline: 643-PEST units, and num- bered accord- ingly.

Work at the site will reference Tidbit these numbers.

If you hear call- ing frogs in an area near you, please contact There are 14 frog our office so that we can schedule species around the treatment in that world that don’t have unit. tongues. Work Notification Page 2

Fewer Leaves Could be Behind Frog Decline

A decline in the amount of clines - where there had been a rapid in Costa Rica. leaves on the ground could be be- fall in species populations but no Between 1970 and 2005, the data hind the rapid demise of frog spe- obvious human cause, such as the showed that the number of cies, a study of a rainforest in Costa destruction of . had declined by about 75%, which Rica has suggested. One of the prime suspects for the supported the idea that frogs were Until now, the prime suspect for enigmatic decline of frogs was chy- being wiped out by the chytrid fungus. the amphibians’ population crash trid fungus (Batrachochytrium den- However, the data also showed a was a deadly fungal infection. drobatidis), deadly to amphibians. A similar fall in the area's reptiles, which By studying data over a 35-year paper, published in the journal Na- were not susceptible to the fungus. The strawberry poison frog period, researchers found that liz- ture last January, looked at biodiver- Over the same period, the data (Oophaga Pumilio) is one of the ards, which are not susceptible to sity hotspots in Central and South showed that there had been a 75% species of amphibians and rep- the infection, had also declined by a America and found that changes to reduction in the density of leaves tiles declining in the lowland similar rate. the local climate had created perfect falling to the ground from the rainfor- forest of Costa Rica. The study appears in Proceed- conditions for the spread of the frog- est's canopy. ings of the National Academy of killing fungus. Leaf litter provides a vital habitat, Sciences (PNAS). Lack of litter offering food and shelter, for the am- Writing in the paper, the team But the PNAS paper found an- phibians and lizards. said the global decline of amphib- other potential culprit - the lack of ian populations ranked “Among the leaf-litter on the forest floor. most critical issues in conservation The international team of scien- To see more go to biology” tists examined data of and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nat Of particular concern, the scien- common reptile populations in La ure/6564329.stm tists wrote, were "enigmatic" de- Selva, a protected area of rainforest

Giant Newt, Tiny Frog Identified as Most at Risk The Golden Toad was one of the first victims of amphibious LONDON-- A giant Chinese sala- to identify and start to protect some the public to sponsor conservation. decline in Costa Rica. mander that predates Tyrannosau- of nature's most weird and wonder- Global warming and human depre- rus Rex and the world’s smallest ful creatures. dation of habitat are cited as root frog are among a group of ex- "The EDGE amphibians are causes of the problem facing the tremely rare amphibians identified amongst the most remarkable and creatures from the massive to the by scientist on Monday as being in unusual species on the planet and minute. need of urgent help to survive. yet an alarming 85 percent of the The Chinese giant salamander, a The Olm, a blind salamander top 100 are receiving little or no distant relative of the newt, can that can survive for 10 years with- conservation attention," said the grow up to 1.8 meters in length out food, and a purple frog that project's amphibians chief Helen while the tiny Gardiner's Seychelles spends most of its life four meters Meredith. frog when full grown is only the underground are also among the 10 While last year's launch focused size of a drawing pin. most endangered amphibians drawn on at risk mammals, this year the Also on this year's list is the up by the Zoological Society of focus shifted to neglected amphibi- limbless Sagalla caecilian, South London. ans. African ghost frogs, lung-less "These species are the 'canaries "These may not be cute and Mexican salamanders, the Mala- in the coalmine' -- they are highly cuddly, but hopefully their weird gasy rainbow frog, Chile's Darwin sensitive to factors such as climate looks and bizarre behaviors will frog and the Betic A Gardiner’s Seychelles frog. change and pollution, which lead to inspire people to support their whose male carries fertilized eggs extinction, and are a stark warning conservation," Meredith added. on its hind legs. of things to come," said EDGE Not only are the target species head Jonathan Baillie. unique, the project itself is breaking EDGE, which stands for Evolution- new ground by using the internet at To see more go to arily Distinct and Globally Endan- www.zsl.org/edge to highlight www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/200 gered, is a project set up a year ago threatened creatures and encourage 8-01/22/content_6412458.htm

Informational Links Please visit the following sites for more info: = Work Notification Policy: http://www.hear.org/kisc/pdfs/200704coquiworknotificationpolicy.pdf

= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6564329.stm

= www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-01/22/content_6412458.htm A Giant Chinese Salamander