Is Anybody Out There? by Bryan Hamilton If you have ever sat outside on a damp spring evening and listened to a chorus of calling toads, watched tadpoles squirm through a muddy pool, or jumped back in alarm as a frog plops into a pond under your feet, you have experienced a part of the life cycle of an amphibian. Loud breeding choruses, aquatic tadpole stages, and dependence on water make frogs and toads some of the most easily noticed animals in nature. However in a desert like the Great Basin, amphibians, which are dependent upon water supplies, are difficult to find. Past surveys of amphibians within Great Basin National Park have been limited to stream surveys and opportunistic collecting. No amphibians have been documented, although seven species potentially occur. During 2002, Great Basin National Park will begin a complete census of all amphibian habitats within the park. Eight ponds and twelve watersheds will be surveyed to identify potential breeding habitat (ponds, lakes, low gradient springs and seeps). These habitats will be characterized based on their physical and chemical properties and targeted for sampling in 2003. Sampling during 2003 will focus on finding breeding frogs and toads. Breeding frogs and toads will be searched for using visual encounter and call surveys. All individuals observed will be identified, measured, photographed, and released. Amphibian inventories will be conducted by park staff under the direction of Mike Adams, U.S. Geologic Survey, Corvallis, Oregon. To further complicate a search for a semi-aquatic organism in one of the driest regions in the country, herpetologists throughout the world have noted numerous declines and malformations in amphibians. The causes of these declines and malformations are unknown, but may be related to disease, fungi, climate and habitat change, ultraviolet radiation, or a combination of these factors. Because of their porous skin and terrestrial and aquatic life cycle, amphibians are considered excellent indicators of environmental health, the proverbial "canary in the mineshaft." You can help Great Basin's Resource Management staff with amphibian inventories by reporting any frogs or toads observed in the Park, Snake, or Spring Valleys to Bryan Hamilton at 234-7331 ext. 227. Feel free to call with any questions about your local amphibian fauna. Midden Table of Contents