Projects proposed but not funded at the 1999 Technical Conference for implementation of IABIN:

Information on Amphibian Decline

Amphibian declines have been reported in several countries of the Western Hemisphere. Pollution, habitat fragmentation, and disease have all been suggested as causative factors. Data is in large part scanty, and has not been collected in a systematic fashion among countries. Access to data held in major museums and similar institutions and contained in surveys, inventories, and monitoring programs is needed to support the analysis required to discern hemispheric trends.

Funds are requested to assess the status of amphibian information in the Western Hemisphere and to organize the information into useful formats. The project will proceed in three steps:

1. Survey and analyze existing data and information sources on amphibians and their population status in North and South America, including major collections, monitoring programs, and surveys and inventories.
2. A workshop of biologists with technical expertise in amphibians of the Western Hemisphere and experts on biological databases and electronic communications to review the survey results.
3. A strategy and action plan for harmonizing existing amphibian data and information, making it widely accessible, and applying it to management problems.