Limon Miah- Chapter 1 Journal

Limon Miah

In chapter one of The Sixth Extinction, Kolbert introduces the event of golden frogs in El Valle, Panama, suddenly rapidly dying in large numbers. This raised concerns throughout the area as this species of frog was once commonly seen all over the El Valle region, however, now biologist have been forced to build a facility that would house, care and save the collected golden frogs from dying; biologists called this a “frog hotel”. After reading an article about a sixth extinction occurring in a nature magazine, Kolbert visited Panama herself, where she met up with the organization doing work with the golden frogs, called the EVACC. After continued research by EVACC, they discover that the cause of the golden frog's disappearance is due to fungi, that they called Bd. The Bd fungi have started to spread to other species of frogs apart from the golden frog's species, and though there are organizations doing work to preserve these species, it is inevitable that the future well being and survival of these frog species is questionable. (R)One thing that I found shocking in the chapter is that “...amphibians have been around not just longer than just mammals, or birds, they have been around since there were dinosaurs” (p.11). In a broad sense, frogs have been on the Earth longer than many things, thus frogs have been able to adapt to each changing phase of the world, and throughout each change, frogs were able to survive to their new environments. However, it has come to the point where even the frog species is fearing extinction now, despite being able to survive changing conditions for millions of years. This raises the question that if frogs are fearing extinction, then there's no saying what will happen to the other animal species on Earth, to humans, and to the Earth itself.

An APES theme that this chapter connects to is that humans alter natural systems and that their actions have had an impact on the environment for millions of years. In the chapter, it states “One theory that the Bd was moved around the globe with shipments of African clawed frogs...used in….pregnancy tests….A second theory holds that the fungus was spread by North American bullfrogs… which have been introduced sometimes accidentally, sometimes purposely… and are often exported for human consumption” (p. 18).  The fact that the frog species are being killed due to Bd is because humans have aided in the spread of Bd throughout hundreds of years. The reality of the situation is that a frog carrying the invasive Bd cant reach another continent unless it is aided by a human, and therefore it is the humans actions that have caused a severely negative impact on the frog species, and created the threat that frogs all over the world now run the risk of being completely wiped out. The original frog carrying Bd wasn't meant to be spread out throughout the world, however, because humans had a purpose for those frogs, they took them out of their homes to fulfill their personal desires. Though unintentional, this very action and human mindset would tip the balance on Earth's natural systems and is what caused the modern day issue with frogs to reach such a scale.