Journal Entry One(Chapter One) -Ziomara Aguilar

Author Elizabeth Kolbert shares her experience in Panama and the work she was doing there. She had been researching the Panamanian Gold Frog and the reason behind its sudden decline in numbers. She worked with EVACC(a conservation center in Panama that researches endangered species) to investigate the death of so many frogs.

On page 18, Kolbert says that the "culprit" to the disappearing species is a type of fungus called Bd. She says that Bd is a fungus that can easily spread and can be found on two different species of frogs, neither of which can be found in Panama. These frogs, the African clawed frog, and the North American Bullfrog were most likely shipped from their natural environments over to different parts of the world, bringing the fungus with them.  This chapter shows the theme of humans altering natural systems. This is so because, for many years, people have brought over these species of frogs to new environments causing Bd to spread and kill off the native species.