If you Build It, They Will Come

Transcription

1 If you Build It, They Will Come Use of Temporary Microbiota as an Environmentally sound alternative to the traditional frog life cycle project in home education settings. Allison Metler

2 Questions Can temporary ponds made of low-cost materials prove usable frog habitat for breeding purposes? Can these pools be used as an alternative to in-house metamorphosis projects by attracting indigenous frogs to be observed, without need of moving the frogs to the students? Can homeschool families be convinced to use these ponds instead of current methods?

3 WHY DO LITTLE KIDS RAISE TADPOLES? Early exposure to amphibians and non-mammalian life. A chance to develop observation and recording skills and science vocabulary, as well as apply other academic skills to science Exposure to environmental education

4 Do these apply to the homeschool population as well? PROBLEMS WITH RAISING TADPOLES DISEASE SPREAD AND INVASIVE SPECIES CONCERNS DUE TO NON-NATIVE FROG RELEASE AND TRANSFER BETWEEN SITES BIOETHICS CONCERNS-do we want children to see frogs as disposable?

5 Tadpole source Tadpole source 69 homeschooled families were surveyed 65% of tadpoles were taken from the wild. 28% of tadpoles came from a retail source. 2% of tadpoles had unknown origins. 5% of tadpoles were observed in the wild. From wild purchased unknown observed in wild only

6 How successful is the project currently? Survival 56% of families had some tadpoles die. 25% of families had all tadpoles die. 19% of families had all tadpoles survive. For 81% of families, studying life cycle turns into studying death. some tadpoles dead all tadpoles dead all tadpoles survived

7 Where did the frogs end up? What happened to the frogs? 64% of families released their frogs into the wild, with DISEASE and INVASIVE SPECIES concerns 23% of families could not answer, as none of their frogs survived. 7% of families kept their frogs as pets throughout their lifespan. 4% of families gave the frogs away. 2% of families disposed of the frogs via euthanasia. released into wild no frogs survived kept as pets gave away disposed via euthanasia

8 What kind of frogs survive? Of the tadpoles of known species with high survival rates in past projects: 8 were African Clawed Frogs 4 were American Bullfrogs 1 was a clutch of Cane Toads Most were unknown, so could also be invasive species.

9 Why backyard ponds? 1) Environmentally friendly- no artificial release of frogs 2) Suburban friendly 3) Low cost-comparable or less than a Grow a Frog project kit.

10 Pond Setup 1) Plastic wading pool w/declorinated water 2) Cover objects 3) Treated with Bacillus thuringiensis strain israelensis to control mosquitoes.

11 First Year Resultsfrogs! American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus), Cope s Gray/Gray Treefrogs (Hyla chrysocelis/versicolor) Green Treefrogs (Hyla cinerea). Bronze Frog (Lithobates clamitans) Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus).

12 Second Year Results up to September - tadpoles and frogs! Addition of plants to pond Gray Treefrog tadpoles observed Bigger, older, and more numerous ranids

13 12 Frog sightings American toad Grey Tree frog Green tree frog Bronze frog Leopard frog Bullfrog 14-Mar 20-Mar 7-Apr 14-Apr 21-Apr 4-May 11-May 14-May 2-Jun 5-Jun 12-Jun 17-Jun 2-Jul 7-Jul 14-Jul 21-Jul 5-Aug 12-Aug

14 Other Animal Usage

15 Spread of information Updates posted monthly,averaged 356 pageviews and 64 likes. 12 new US sites and 1 AUS site in 2016 with limited or no current frog use 4 additional sites with regular frog use 19 children age 3-12 participating

16 Plans for next year and further questions We have toads-can we make the pond accessible to them for breeding? Can this be replicated in other parts of TN and the USA (and Australia)? Can we get more people to try attracting frogs vs catching or buying tadpoles? (Save the frogs events, blogs, forums )

17 Acknowledgements and Thanks Dr. Stephen McMann and Dr. Ann Paterson who have provided mentoring and support My parents Donna and Michael Metler Lisa Powers and Dr. Kerry Krieger

18 Questions? Contact me at: Follow my projects at Allissnakes.blogspot.com Facebook My Little Python