Archives: Profiles
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Introduced Disease
When a disease is brought to a location where it wasn’t previously present, it is considered an introduced disease. Introduced diseases typically have a bigger impact on wildlife than native diseases, because exposed species haven’t had time to evolve natural defenses to fight off the novel pathogens.
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Harlequin Frogs
Harlequin frogs (also called harlequin toads) are a group of beautiful, brightly-colored toads found in Central and South America. One species in particular, the Panamanian golden frog, is considered the national animal of Panama and a flagship species for amphibian conservation.
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Chytridiomycosis
Chytridiomycosis — often called chytrid or BD — is a highly infectious fungal disease linked to the widespread decline of more than 200 amphibian species around the world.
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Insurance Population
In conservation, an insurance population is a breeding group of endangered plants or animals kept in captivity to ensure that the species won’t go extinct, even if it disappears in the wild. Examples of insurance populations include the Panamanian golden frog and the golden lion tamarin of Brazil.
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Gina Della Togna
Dr. Gina Della Togna is the Executive Director of the Amphibian Survival Alliance and a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
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Brian Gratwicke
Brian Gratwicke is a conservation biologist who leads the amphibian conservation programs at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
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Green Deserts
When a habitat looks lush but is actually devoid of much of its native wildlife, it is sometimes called a green desert. A green desert might refer to a field planted with a single crop (called “monoculture”) or a forest planted with just one or several tree species.
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Seed Dispersers
Plants can’t move on their own, so they usually need a little help to spread their seeds far and wide. Animals that scatter these seeds — often by eating the fruit and pooping out the remains — are known as seed dispersers.
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Alexandra Pires
Alexandra Pires is currently an associate professor at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, where she teaches the subjects of Natural Resources Conservation and Fauna Management.
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Marcelo Rheingantz
Marcelo Rheingantz is a biologist at the Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Executive Director of Refauna. He has dedicated his research career to the ecology and conservation of vertebrate populations in Brazil and South America.
