QC Press: Environmental watchdog raises concern about amphibian loss

[Herp News]

THE GAZETTE (Montreal, Quebec) 06 October 09 Environmental watchdog raises concern about amphibian loss (Lee Greenberg, Ottawa Citizen)
Toronto: The dramatic decline of Ontario’s amphibian population should be causing much more concern among provincial officials, says Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller.
At a news conference Tuesday, Miller called amphibians — frogs, toads, newts and salamanders — the “canaries in the global coal mine.”
“Here is a group of particularly sensitive animals,” he told reporters. “And guess what — they’re dying off across the world at the highest rate. So are they the indicators, the ones we should be watching? I think so.”
Miller raised his concerns as he released his annual report highlighting environmental progress and concerns in Ontario.
Of the 27 amphibian species native to the province, eight are classified as at risk under the province’s Endangered Species Act, according to the report. The primary threat to the small, slimy creatures is habitat loss resulting from encroaching development in southern Ontario — about 70 per cent of wetlands in the south have been drained for agriculture and urban development.
But Miller said there are other factors, too. The small creatures are sensitive to environmental changes and they may be unable to react quickly enough to temperature and moisture changes. Warmer temperatures may also exacerbate parallel threats, such as the spread of infectious diseases among amphibian populations.
“Someone should be monitoring their health and looking for ways to mitigate the disturbances to their habitat because they may be the leading edge to something much more serious that is happening,” Miller said.
Biodiversity was a key theme in the Environmental Commissioner’s 2009 report, which also criticized the province’s land use planning process which allows developers to use “intimidating legal tactics” to scare off ordinary citizens.
Environmental watchdog raises concern about amphibian loss