You won’t have to touch them — Friends of the Rouge officials promise.
The nonprofit organization that works to restore, protect and enhance the Rouge River watershed is seeking volunteers for its annual frog and toad survey. Participants will be trained to learn the chirps and croaks of various local frog and toad species, then commit to going out to a particular piece of the watershed near their homes a couple of nights per month to listen for the frogs and toads and record their absence or presence.
Conducted annually since 1998, the frog and toad survey has provided more than a quarter-century of data that has proven useful to researchers of both frogs and toads and in studying the watersheds and wetlands and their health, said Lauren Eaton, monitoring manager for Friends of the Rouge.
More: What frogs are found in Michigan? Take a look
“Unlike birds or mammals that could move around a little bit more, the frogs and toads generally stay within their habitat — and their life cycle is dependent on the quality of the aquatic environment. So for us, they are like canaries in the coal mine because many of them are very sensitive to pollution. They can give us a really good indication of the type of habitat in that area and the quality of the habitat.”
The Rouge River watershed spans Wayne, Oakland and Washtenaw counties, and over many years has seen significant loss of the kinds of wetlands frogs and toads need to survive, Eaton said. Wayne County has lost about 90% of its wetlands, with about 60% to 70% loss in Oakland and Washtenaw counties.
“We are a highly urbanized watershed and have continued over time to develop the remaining green space that we have,” she said. “So we are particularly interested in monitoring for these frogs and toads to keep track not only of their populations but where remaining quality wetland habitat exists in the watershed.”
Volunteers are asked to preregister for a training session that will take place on Saturday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Livonia Civic Center Library, 32777 Five Mile Road, Livonia. There, volunteers will be trained to recognize the calls of eight local frogs and toads, including the American toad, bullfrog, Eastern Gray treefrog, Green frog, Midland Chorus frog, Northern Leopard frog, Northern Spring Pepper and Wood frog. Volunteers will also be assigned Rouge River watershed survey blocks close to their homes, Eaton said.
Volunteers then commit to visiting their survey area in the evening twice per month after the weather warms up, typically around April, into July.
“You’re not out handling the frogs,” she said. “You really just have to wander around and listen for them.
“You listen for about three minutes at each habitat within your block. We have some data sheets if you prefer doing paper data sheets, or an online data form where you can just have it on your phone and click through and record things like the temperature, the date, and then it’s just presence or absence; are you hearing the species or not?”
Preregistration is at https://therouge.org/frog-toad-survey-training-workshops/ .
Data gathered over the decades has helped inform potential impacts to frog and toad species for development within the watershed, Eaton said. The data is also shared with the Michigan Herpetological Atlas, a database useful to scientific researchers.
In addition to compiling data about frogs, toads and watershed health, the annual survey also helps the Friends’ mission to create stewards of the watershed and a connection to the Rouge River and the land around it, Eaton said.
“It’s a very beloved program, and we have people that come back year after year, do it with their grandparents; do it with their kids,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Frog finders, toad detectives needed to help assess local watershed
Reporting by Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
