Why should we care about frogs? Because of their highly permeable skin and aquatic life stage as tadpoles, they are excellent indicators of the environment and water quality. Frogs also serve as food to a diverse array of other animals including birds, mammals, reptiles, and fish. In addition, they are the foundation of medical research.
Without frogs, we would be in some serious trouble. Acknowledging their importance, VDGIF has been working with citizen biologists to monitor trends in frog populations across the Commonwealth. Find out how you can get involved in VDGIF’s frog and toad calling surveys and learn more about our Virginia is for Frogs campaign!
Drift fences with pit-fall traps are a survey technique used to capture frogs such as these Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toads.
Photos by John Kleopfer.