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Recent Events & Highlights

• Wetland Stewards Attend the Oceans Need Everyone Teen Summit.
• Celebrating Earth Day 2011.
• State Grant to RCDSCC Aids Watch Programs.
• Older Events.

Check our events calendar for upcoming activities you can participate in!

Wetland Stewards Attend the Teen Summit

On November 12, 2011, teens from all over California came together for an Oceans Need Everyone (ONE) Teen Summit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The summit was organized so that teens interested in ocean and watershed conservation could network and exchange ideas. Teen groups invited to the summit included our Wetland Stewards, students from the Aquarium’s W.A.T.C.H. (Watsonville Area Teens Conserving Habitats) program, science clubs, and environmental clubs. The event included workshops, student presentations, information tables, a keynote speaker, and dessert!

The Watsonville Wetlands Watch had an information table for local teens to learn about wetland conservation and how to get involved. Wetland Steward Kenneth Batin said, “When I attended the Teen Summit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I didn’t expect to see so many others with the same passion for making a difference. When I was at the Watsonville Wetlands Watch’s booth, I was overwhelmed to see so many students visiting our booth.”

The keynote speaker was Sarah Bayles, author of the blog “The Daily Ocean,” which follows her 365-day clean-up of her local beach. Each day Sarah picks up trash for 20 minutes and has collected 914 pounds of trash to date! The Teen Summit was inspiring to the young attendees, and also to us because it showed how teens are getting involved in watershed education and restoration in California.

The Wetland Stewards Program at Watsonville Wetlands Watch is made possible by generous support from The John & Abby Sobrato Donor-Advised Fund, Cecil’s Fund, The Toole Fund, The Robert N. & Florence Slinger Fund, and Community Foundation Santa Cruz County.

Celebrating Earth Day 2011

Every day is Earth Day, but this year Watsonville Wetlands Watch celebrated a little more than usual, with two special events! On Friday, April 15, 2011, we hosted our third Earth Day event at Pajaro Valley High School for students and staff. Our Wetland Steward interns led a fun trivia game, displayed our wetland wildlife specimens, and shared information about the importance of wetland conservation. Second Harvest donated over 300 lbs. of fresh organic fruits and vegetables for the free farmer’s market that we set up with help from the PVHS Garden Club. Check out our short video of the event at left.

State Grant to RCDSCC Aids Watch Programs

On a clear crisp fall morning, students would rather be outside than in a classroom. An outdoor classroom makes for an unusual educational experience that students may long remember after book learning is forgotten. Such an experience was created for 28 Pajaro Valley High School students with the help of volunteers, docents, and staff from the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County (RCDSCC) and the Watch. The students came to help restore the habitat with native plants as part of the Middle Watsonville Slough Restoration Project.

State budget problems have affected extracurricular activities and field trips. However, State grant funds are sponsoring the RCD’s collaboration with the Watch to do restoration planting work with students and community volunteers, to develop an interactive display for the Fitz WERC, and for general public outreach related to floodplain easements, according to Angie Stuart, program specialist for the RCD.

The ultimate beneficiaries of the grant-sponsored fieldtrips are Gary Martindale’s Advanced Placement Environmental Studies students. Says Martindale, “They get to see people and organizations working together and applying principles of ecology to manage an ecosystem. They learn that good land-use decisions are based on science.” During this particular trip, students experienced personally what the daily life of a biologist is like and participated in hands-on restoration by planting young wetland trees, shrubs, and grasses. They saw a demonstration of how wetlands help clean water, observed wildlife through binoculars and listened for bird calls. A rare sighting of a barn owl in a nearby stand of trees was a special treat. (2010)

Read more about our educational programs.

• Students Learn about Bioindicators.
• Business Outreach Initiative.
• Amesti Kids Aid the Wetlands.
• Bear Talk Proves Popular.
• New Environmental Education Specialist.
• Annual Picnic on Tarplant Hill.
• Interpretive Sign Dedicated on ESHA.
• Snapshot Day Kicks off Water Quality Monitoring Project.
• New Grazing Specialist.
• Students Restore Red-legged Frog Habitat.
• Musical Planting a Big Success.
• World Wetlands Day Links Us to Pakistan.
• Action Pajaro Valley Studies Water Issues.
• World Wetlands Day a Big Success.
• Second-Graders from Landmark Elementary Do Plantings at Tarplant Hill.
• Training for Project-Based Science
• Rebirth of the Wetlands Altar Project
• Volunteer Steve Zaslaw
• WWW at Santa Cruz County Fair
• Volunteer Linda Youmans
• Restoration and Education Grants
• Talk: “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”
• Volunteer Ashley Ciglar Participates in Solar Decathlon
• Conservation Advocates Look for Endangered Species

Students Collect Invertebrates and Learn about Bioindicators

In October 2010, with the help of docents, PVHS students worked in small groups to identify each organism they collected. The creatures were placed into sensitivity groups, and at the end of the study students found that on average the water quality at the uppermost part of the West Branch of Struve Slough was “fair” during the month of October. Students and volunteers will continue this study and expand it over the long-term as part of Project Tierra.

A huge thank you to our docents and volunteers: Sharon Clark, Cathy Gamble, Shirley Johnson, Alon Keller, Priscilla Partridge, Joan Rose, and Linda Youmans as well as teachers Jaime Bloom, Rob Hoffman, and Danielle LeLaidier. Without them these activities could never have taken place!

The photos of students and their field work were taken by Rob Hoffman, PVHS science teacher.

Business Outreach Initiative Launched with Special Tour of Wetlands

The Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW) hosted an inaugural special event on Saturday, November 13, 2010 to launch a new Business Outreach Initiative.  The goal of this initiative is to build long term, mutually beneficial partnerships with local businesses.

“We decided to start with companies that had recently been recognized by Santa Cruz County as Green Businesses,”  said Debbie Diersch, the Chairperson of the Business Outreach Committee.  “It took these companies a significant amount of time, effort, and commitment to earn this certification.  They are in the vanguard of companies dedicated to supporting environmentally friendly practices so we felt that we shared a common bond with them of dedication to the environment and our local community.”

An illustrious group of business leaders from Fitz Fresh, Santa Cruz County Bank, West Marine, Best Western Capitola, L-3 Communications, CENTURY21 Lad Realty, George Ow Properties, and Hadal attended the event.

Guests were treated to a tour of the Fitz Wetlands Resource and Education Center lead by WWW Board member Lou Rose, followed by a hike lead by WWW Board Chairman, Bob Culbertson over Department of Fish and Game Lands to a knoll overlooking the West Struve Slough.  Wetland Stewards  Rosemary Alvarez, Anthony Barrios, Jennifer Baker, and Jose Alanis, participated by sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm of the wetlands with the business guests.  At the end of the tour, guests, Wetland Stewards, and WWW Board Members and staff lingered over lunch where they shared experiences and thoughts of the tour and suggestions for the future.

“This was a wonderful day,” said Debbie.  “We thoroughly enjoyed introducing these local business leaders to the wetlands and our organization.  Everyone came away enthusiastic about what we shared today and how we can partner together in the future.  This is just the beginning of the Business Outreach Initiative and we still have a lot of work to do.  We are looking forward to building strong, lasting partnerships with our new friends in the business community.”

The event was covered in an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Amesti Kids Aid the Wetlands

In October 2010, classes from Amesti Elementary helped restore the wetlands by removing bristly ox-tongue and wild radish, two non-native, invasive plant species. The students will return in the spring to see how the wetlands change with the seasons. Thanks so much to our docents for their hard work during these field trips! WWW is also grateful to have recently received a $15,000 grant from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation for the Amesti field trips in the future. 

Bear Talk Packs House

A packed house of 62 people heard Bruce Elliott’s presentation on bears on August 26, 2010. Bruce is a popular local educator and a retired Senior Biologist Supervisor for the California Department of Fish and Game and will be presenting future wildlife topics during our 2010 Lecture Series.

Here are some more bear facts from Bruce:

• Bears originated 33 million years ago in the northern hemisphere in the Oligocene Epoch.
• Five million years ago, the ancestors of bears developed large molars and short tails.
• Prominent characteristics of bears are small ears and eyes, short tails, and powerful limbs.
• Bears can range in color from white to black, and different bears of the same species can be of different colors, especially American black bears.
• Bears were the last of the carnivorous mammals to evolve.
• Ancestors of some modern bears migrated to the Southern Hemisphere and today we find the sun bear in South America and the sloth bear in India and the Spectacled Bear in South America.
• In California today, bears are not found in the Santa Cruz Mountains; they can be found in Mendocino County and north, the Sierra Nevada, and in Los Padres National Forest up to southern Monterey County.

New Environmental Education Specialist

“I love environmental education—it’s taking the classroom outdoors, an incredibly powerful activity,” observed Adrienne Frisbee, our new Environmental Education Specialist. Adrienne will divide her time between Wetlands Stewards and Project Tierra. She had her first introduction to wetlands during her undergrad years at Loyola in New Orleans where she received a BS in biology. Then she moved on to the University of Florida where she received an MS in Science in 2007 with an emphasis on soil and water science. Most recently, she received a teaching credential in secondary education at San Jose State. Welcome, Adrienne!

Adrienne was a biologist for 10 years before she realized she felt like she was “missing something.” She switched from microbial ecology work at NASA-Ames (some at Elkhorn Slough) to education outreach with high schools. Earlier work experience included two summers in Denali National Park, Alaska, doing carbon and nitrogen cycling. “I lived in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, and the only other person I saw for two months was my roommate.” She also spent 6 months doing bird monitoring at Fire Island National Seashore.

“I am really amazed at the scope and outreach of programs developed here at Watsonville Wetlands Watch. I think I’ll learn a lot from the staff and volunteers here as well as from the students and the various agencies. Of course, being in the wetlands every day is a real treat. I want to help this organization continue to go in the direction it’s going; it has great goals.”

WWW Annual Picnic on Tarplant Hill

At our annual picnic on July 11, 2010, at Tarplant Hill, the sun was out, an amazing flock of white pelicans put on a show above, and the food was quite gourmet! Jim Van Houten gave the group a history of Tarplant Hill and how WWW came to acquire it. Left, Restoration Specialist John Pritchard is shown providing a fascinating tour of the restoration site.

Snapshot Day

On May 1, 2010, in partnership with the Coastal Watershed Council, WWW kicked off the wetlands water quality monitoring portion of Project Tierra, Santa Cruz’s official Snapshot Day.

Committed volunteers are adopting a wetland site and collecting water samples regularly throughout the year at the site. Over time, we will begin to notice water quality trends that will help us to make important decisions on land restoration. Results will be posted on an online interactive database that will enable staff, teachers, and others to manipulate and compare data. Over the course of several years, our data may be able to answer larger and more regional questions about restoring water quality. If you would like to participate, please contact Noëlle Antolin, 831-728-1156 ext. 5 or noelle@watsonvillewetlandswatch.org.

New Grazing Specialist

Laura Kummerer grew up in San Jose and graduated from UCSC with a major in Latin American Studies. She fell in love with the vibrant life of our freshwater wetlands in 1998 when she worked with farmers along the banks of the sloughs. When Laura is not out in the wetlands she loves to bicycle, swim and hike all over the Ventana wilderness in search of wildflower blooms and swimming holes.    

Since 1998, Laura has been developing creative strategies to restore the degraded upland habitats of the slough system. She initially worked for the Watch in a community based restoration program to remove invasive weeds on the slough edge, revegetate critical areas, and involve young and old members of the community in all aspects of restoration.

For the past four years she has been working at High Ground Organics Farm to restore 20 acres of land that connects the farm with the freshwater habitat of Harkins Slough, experimenting with rotational grazing and the large scale growing of locally collected grass and wildflower seeds as a means to restore coastal prairie grassland. She looks forward to continuing this project at the Watch and feels that this new partnership will allow for the successful restoration efforts in the sloughs to reach out even further.

In February (2010), the PVHS Advanced Placement Environmental Science class restored red-legged frog habitat on the newly acquired Land Trust of Santa Cruz County farm property on a pond near Watsonville Slough. Matt Freeman from the Land Trust and Kelli Camera from the Santa Cruz Resource Conservation District spoke to the students about the habitat, green jobs, and the importance of this restoration work.

Here we see students learning about the habitat they are restoring and the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County property. Staff support was provided by Jonathan Pilch, John Pritchard, John Moreno, and Mary Paul, as well as our 2 new CSUMB interns, Ashly Farland and Alicia De Worken and our docents Cathy Gamble and Jim Mattson.

Matt Freeman, SC Land Trust, talking to the students.	Kelli Camera from the RCD speaks to the group.
Jonathan and John demonstrate planting	Posing after a good day’s work

Musical Planting a Big Success

Fifty-five volunteers showed up on March 27, 2010, to put in 1,336 plants, restoring a wet meadow that had been full of poison hemlock. Volunteers planted to the tunes of bluegrass band Microtonic Harmonic. Many thanks to all who volunteered, to Mary Paul for coordinating the event, and to Microtonic Harmonic for donating their services.

We are not alone in our work. As a result of our connection with World Wetlands Day, we received an e-letter from the Deh Akro Wetlands Watch in Sindh, Pakistan! Click here to learn about their wetlands preservation work.

The Water Supply Subcommittee of this group is looking hard at the many issues surrounding Pajaro Valley water, especially since the previous fees assessed to support the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA) were ruled illegal by the court. These issues include:

• Overdraft of the basin
• Saltwater intrusion
• Land subsidence (sinking)
• Need for additional supply
• Flooding

Because of its reputation for objectivity as well as its concern for the environment, WWW has been suggested as a host for a possible public forum. The forum would focus on educating the community on some of these issues, including a potential augmentation fee to support the PVWMA. For future news, watch this website. You can also learn more at the PVWMA website and the Army Corps of Engineers website.

World Wetlands Day a Big Success

This event, held at the Nature Center on February 6, 2010, drew over 75 local community members to participate in conservation activities, demonstrating yet again how much Watsonville really cares; both program leaders and community members alike.

RESTORATION. Over 35 people participated in the invasive plant removal and native planting in the wetland area behind the Nature Center. This would not have been possible without the help from WWW docents Bridget Dumas, Sharon Hazel, Brenda Hermosillo, and Victor Riegos. This was a great turnout considering the rain that lead right up to the first shovelful of weeds and dirt!

LITTER CLEAN-UP. More than 15 parents and children participated in wetlands trail litter clean-up activities lead by Nature Center staff Cindy Scott and Cristy Cassel along with WWW docent Athena Barrios. Participants received prizes and several very “interesting” items were removed.

ARTS, CRAFTS AND GAMES. Nature Center staff and WWW docents Athena Barrios and Melita Israel offered wetlands themed bingo games, bird crafts, conservation art projects, and litter leader games available for children throughout the day.

Over 98 countries worldwide participated in this event! Click here for more information.

Second-Graders at Landmark Elementary Do Planting on Tarplant Hill

Trails Specialist John Moreno helping out	Docent Cathy Gamble checks out a plant.
The Cal Fire/CDC Fire crew also worked on Tarplant Hill, doing site preparation for volunteer planting that occurred on Feb 16th, 2010. Shown above, staffer John Pritchard after starting the crew.	Volunteers do their part.

Training for Project-Based Science

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, 16 teachers from all over the Bay Area attended a Project-based Science Institute at the WERC. The Watch is partnering with the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) to support middle school and high school teachers to implement outdoor projects related to Project Tierra, our citizen science wetland biodiversity monitoring program.

Healthy freshwater wetlands are home to many interconnected organisms. Aquatic invertebrates make up the foundation of this delicate food web and are good indicators of wetland health. Staff and docents taught teachers to sample aquatic invertebrates in West Struve Slough and then to identify their species and interpret their data. Two teachers will return with their students to participate in Project Tierra’s aquatic invertebrate monitoring this winter.

Through the vision and hard work of a very creative team of volunteers, the altar, The Rebirth of the Wetlands, was built. The intention for the project was to combine the natural features of our local wetland habitats (birds like the red tailed hawk, cormorants and white pelicans, and native plants like rushes, cattails, marsh marigolds, and bee plant) with traditional Day of the Dead altar components like the arch, brightly colored flowers, and representatives of the four elements (candles for fire, birds for air, rocks for earth, and glass for water).

While it was a true collaboration, each volunteer contributed his/her own special skills.  Bob Lyons built the sturdy infrastructure, Bill Best tackled the arch engineering, Cathy Gamble made the wonderful stained glass birds and water pieces, and Virginia Taylor added the color through flowers and tissue paper. Shown at left are Bill and Virginia.

We also wanted to draw attention to the importance of young people’s involvement in the wetlands.  On the outside of the left panel are student art works, including two “Found Art” pieces created by students after a slough cleanup session and a student’s poem.

Visit our altar and all the others at the Pajaro Valley Arts Council Gallery at 37 Sudden St. in Watsonville; the exhibit runs through Dec. 6, and the Gallery is open Wednesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays & Sundays, 12 to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

By Kathy Fieberling

“Nuts!” That’s what Steve Zaslaw said when asked for his life story. He was quoting the reply of the commanding general of US forces to the German surrender demand at the siege of Bastogne on the day Steve was, coincidentally, born. The town’s perimeter held, and the Battle of the Bulge started going the US’s way. The story is typical of Steve’s quirky sense-of-humor, which could be described as Woody-Allen-like. Maybe being born in Manhattan has something to do with that.

Steve went to High School in Great Neck on Long Island. He then went to Cornell University for his BA in Physics in 1967. Eventually, Steve ended up in the computer industry, where he worked for a large computer manufacturer from 1977 to 2002. During that time, he got a MS in Computer Science at BU. Steve had been enjoying visits to relations and friends in the Bay Area for years, and he moved to Capitola when he retired.

Steve claims that Lou and Joan Rose “dragged” him to the first few classes of docent training in 2007. He was reluctant at first about making the commitment to become a docent. When asked why he continued to participate in training, he said, “because the Roses were driving.” Nonetheless, Steve was hooked and has gone on to become one of the volunteers who puts in the most time (hundreds of hours) for us. Steve is our webmaster/electronic communication specialist. All trends point to increased use of electronic media for organizational communication, and Steve is our go-to guy for this. Steve played a key role in the upgrade of our website last fall, and since then has done regular updates to keep it current. He also researched and linked us with Constant Contact, our e-mail service to our supporters, and each month puts our e-letter text and graphics into the CC format so it is attractive to our readers. He frequently makes editorial contributions to our electronic communications. Steve has spent many hours researching and testing a variety of software in search of the right tool for our online timesheet project. He is also researching tools for slough-centered citizen science projects.

Besides working long hours for us, Steve is also active in the UC Santa Cruz Lifelong Learners where he is a board member, webmaster, and publisher of their newsletter. Steve stays fit by swimming and by walking on the beach near his home in Capitola.

Steve remains dedicated to us because of the value he sees in our educational programs. He thinks that raising students’ awareness about the environment is the only hope of saving the natural world. And he heartily approves of our outdoor lab concept “because kids remember catching a frog or seeing for the first time the amazing variety of microscopic life in a drop of slough water. It gives them an experience in the natural world that they’ll remember long after textbook and classroom details are forgotten.”

We are very happy to have Steve in our docent team. Thank you so much, Steve, for your outstanding dedication and contribution to the Watsonville Wetland Watch!

WWW at Santa Cruz County Fair

Eight volunteers and two staff worked over several days to create this miniature wetland for the Santa Cruz County Fair. The Watch was excited to be part of the Fair and to make more residents aware of this precious resource, the Watsonville Sloughs, located in the heart of Watsonville.

Part of the exhibit is shown at right.

Volunteer Linda Youmans

Linda is a native of Watsonville and went to Watsonville High.  Her family spans four Watsonville-area generations, starting with her husband’s parents and extending to their 3 children and 4 grandchildren.  She also includes her “granddogs” in her family.

Four years ago, after the death of her husband, a newspaper story about the docent program caught Linda’s eye.  She decided to give it a try and was delighted by the lovely people and upbeat spirit she found. Today she is one of the pillars of our program. She says, “It is great to feel needed, and it is a blessing that I get to be a part of this”.

Thank you, Linda, for being such a wonderful member of our docent family!

Restoration and Education Grants

Below are details of work Watsonville Wetlands Watch is accomplishing in the sloughs with the support of grants and partners.

Pajaro Valley High Wetlands Restoration Project

With support from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation, this project will involve students in the restoration of aquatic and terrestrial wetland habitat on West Struve Slough. Pajaro Valley High School students will learn about regional wildlife threats and issues, including water quality; and will be actively involved in the entire process of wetland habitat restoration: planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment of project success.

Replantings are shown at right.

Stewardship Council Grant

Watsonville Wetlands Watch staff has partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to design a project based learning opportunity for Pajaro Valley teens. The Stewardship Council Youth Development Initiative funded $75,000 for the partners to work with teachers in developing project based activities, get kids outside, in the wetlands, and to address community based conservation issues. Teachers are trained over the summer on project based learning and will implement the activities through field experiences.  WWW will support teachers through the resources and expertise found in the Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center.  Through classroom projects, activities, and field experiences, teens will discover the unique watershed located in their backyard.

Talk: “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”

Many community and WWW volunteers and staff audience members were deeply moved during a recent talk at Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center. The well-attended audio-visual presentation, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” was given at the August 6^th docent meeting by Ximena Waissbluth of the Surfrider Foundation. She shared photos and facts about this gigantic gyre of plastic debris which spreads across hundreds of miles of the north Pacific. We saw birds trapped in plastic rings and learned that fish are now ingesting plastic, which not only harms them, but means it gets into our food supply.

One solution proposed is for the public to support Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, which would make producers pay for the cost of non-degradable items.

To learn more about this growing problem, see the articles in Yahoo News and on the Algalita.org website.

WWW Volunteer Ashley Ciglar Participates in Solar Decathlon

WWW volunteer Ashley Ciglar is participating in the Solar Decathlon sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. In this competition, 20 teams of college students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. She and her team from Santa Clara University will be flying to Washington, D.C. in October for the competition and hope to place 1^st; in 2007 SCU placed 3^rd.

Ashley’s role in the Solar Decathlon has been to work on the greywater system. The team’s design is based on the natural water filter system she has come to know so well working as a restoration volunteer here in Watsonville. The greywater from the shower, bathroom sink, and washing machine is filtered through native wetland plants and several layers of sand and soil and then passes through a UV filter before it is recirculated to the home’s irrigation system where it is used to water the native plant garden. The preliminary testing on the system has shown an 80% decrease in organic matter, necessary prior to running the water through the UV filter. To find out more about greywater systems, click here.

Ashley is majoring in civil engineering and is hoping to do restoration work after she graduates; she is mostly interested in waterways. Thanks, Ashley, and good luck! To see Ashley’s solar house design, click here; to see her greywater system, click here.

Conservation Advocates Look for Endangered Species

On Saturday evening, March 28^th, 2009, 16 wetlands supporters participated in a “Frogwalk.” This is an account of the experience by Cathy Gamble, a participant and WWW docent:

“Prior to the walk, we scrubbed our footwear in a mixture of one cup of bleach per gallon water, waited 10 minutes, then rinsed them in clear water to disinfect them to help stop the spread of the fungal infection, chytridiomycosis, which threatens amphibians worldwide with mass extinction. It has been found in Elkhorn Slough and other nearby areas, according to Dawn Reis, biologist and walk leader. She stressed the importance of disinfecting footwear and tools prior to entering wetland areas, and asked us to help spread the word and this ‘recipe.’

“Frogs are sensitive to light changes, so we got training in flashlight ettiquette. Heading for under the bridge just north of the PVHS campus, we found a baby Santa Cruz Garter Snake under construction debris. Dawn showed us how to lift the side of a board that's away from you to avoid a snake's strike. Pacific treefrog calls filled the air. We found a frog that was an inch long and bright green to match its environment. The eyes of several bullfrogs glowed in our flashlight beams. Although 24 California red-legged frogs, a threatened species, were present prior to the bridge's construction, last year only one was found. They eluded us on this trip, not surprising as they can travel several miles from pond to pond in a night, and there are so few of them left. The area under the bridge showed signs of current human presence: litter and grafitti. Habitat disruption is one of the primary causes of the red-legged frog's population decline.”

Note: More information on the fungal infection threatening amphibians may be found in the April, 2009, issue of National Geographic Magazine.