The fact that this happened in Yellowstone made it easy to rule out other impacts. "It's not that there's an exotic species invasion. It's not that there are human impacts like plowing or irrigation. It's not like direct habitat degradation due to humans has any role to play here," Hadley said. "There's nothing upstream in this place except mountains and water." "Our study shows that even an area as protected as Yellowstone is not immune to the effects of climate change," McMenamin added. Yellowstone National Park, founded in 1872, has been protected by law longer than anywhere else in the world. Amphibian declines have been reported worldwide, with many pointing to disease, especially a type of chytrid fungus, as a major cause. McMenamin saw evidence of disease on two occasions in her survey. Rising temperatures and drying ponds may create stressful conditions that make amphibians more susceptible to infection, she added: "It's a triple whammy on the amphibians." "I was surprised by the magnitude of change," said evolutionary biologist David Wake of the University of California, Berkeley. "This paper coupled with some others that have appeared in the past weeks on climate change and its impact make it clear that climate change is a problem not only for the future, but right now." "This is the strongest scientific evidence I've seen on the climate changes in Yellowstone," added John Varley, director of Montana State University's Big Sky Institute in Bozeman. "Many believe they see changes, but this paper is solid proof." Related Links: |
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