There have probably been many times when you’ve been sitting
on your back porch at night, listening to all of the sounds emanating from the
wild. There’s a good chance you probably
don’t know what a lot of those noises are. Many of them are a variety of
nocturnal animals including different species of birds, mammals, and insects. In
addition to those animals, many frogs and toads are vocal during the night
hours. Now is a great opportunity to learn the calls of these amphibians and
become a citizen scientist with the introduction of the Brookgreen Gardens FrogWatch
USA
chapter. Citizen science is a collaboration between scientists and volunteers
to expand the collection of scientific data that might not otherwise be
possible. The data collected by volunteers is used to help develop practical
conservation methods for frogs and toads. According to the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), about 1/3 of amphibian species are
threatened with extinction, so the more data we can collect, the better!
FrogWatch USA
gives you an opportunity to learn the calls of the many species of frogs and
toads of South Carolina,
and an opportunity to spend more time outside learning about the natural world
with your friends and family. After you complete training, you may register a
wetland site of your choosing, and then you go out at night for a monitoring
session which only takes 5 minutes. You can do a monitoring session as
frequently as you like.
Our first training session is open to members of Brookgreen Gardens. It is March 14th at
the Lowcountry Center Auditorium beginning at 2:30 pm until approximately 4:00
pm. Seating is limited and reservations are required by calling 843-235-6016.
For more information about FrogWatch USA (and
amphibian conservation), you can visit aza.org/frogwatch.
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