Amphibians around the world are disappearing. Recent estimates suggest that nearly one-third (32 percent) or about 2,000 species of this unique group of animals is threatened with extinction. Nearly 168 species are thought to have gone extinct in the last two decades. With increasing land-use and climate change around the world, these trends are likely to worsen. To better understand and conserve these diverse and fascinating creatures, scientists urgently need information on where amphibians persist.
To collect this information, we need your help. Today, AmphibiaWeb, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, and Amphibian Ark are launching the Global Amphibian Blitz. Visit www.inaturalist.org/projects/global–amphibian–blitz to contribute your observations of amphibians along with the dates and locations where you observed them, anywhere in the world. You can even upload a photo of the species with your observation, or link to a photo on your Flickr or Picassa pages. If you’re unsure which species you’ve seen, mark them as ‘ID Please!’ and our team of expert curators will help you with your identification. Watch this short video for more information.
Together, through the cooperation of scientists and amateur naturalists from around the globe, let’s census the world’s amphibians to discover which species are still here and where they persist. Let’s find every one!
How can I contribute my observations?
Watch getting started video or follow these four easy steps:
- Visit www.inaturalist.org/projects/global–amphibian–blitz and click ‘add observations’.
- Log in to iNaturalist – the engine behind the Global Amphibian Blitz – with your Facebook, Twitter, Google, or Yahoo account.
- Upload you amphibian photo from your hard-disk or link to your photo that’s already on Flickr or Picassa.
- Add a date, geographic coordinates, and the best identification you can and click ‘’Save observation’.
How else can I get involved?
In addition to contributing your own observations, if you know something about amphibians in a certain part of the world, you can help identify other’s observations. If you are an amphibian expert and would like to sign on as a curator, contact global-amphibian-blitz@inaturalist.org. You can also help by telling your friends about the Blitz or spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Picassa.
How can do I keep track of updates?
Check back regularly to see how the Blitz is progressing, receive updates from curators, and compare your contributions with others. You can also follow the Global Amphibian Blitz Blog where we will report any particularly unusual observations.
What about threatened species?
For contributions identified as a threatened species according to the IUCN Red List the public coordinates will be obscured by about 5 kilometers to discourage those who would seek to exploit rare species.
What taxonomy are you using?
The Global Amphibian Blitz uses the checklist of species from Amphibiaweb which is updated weekly with newly described species. We use the taxonomy of the Amphibian Species of the World to group these species into families and genera.