Alarmed about the scope of population declines and extinctions of frogs, toads, and other amphibians, a group of 50 scientists, including SIUC zoology professor Karen Lips, has called for formation of an international Amphibian Survival Alliance with an initial budget of at least $400 million.

Such an alliance is urgently needed, the scientists say, to coordinate conservation efforts, set up regional centers for disease research and captive breeding, create databases, and train personnel in countries that have little expertise in this area.

The call to action was published in the July 7, 2006, issue of Science. One-third of all amphibian species, including entire groups of species, are threatened, the scientists say, and the problem involves "nearly all regions of the planet." Because the threat is global, conserving amphibian biodiversity will take a global effort, they say.

Lips was one of the first scientists to document massive die-offs of frogs and toads in the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama. There, the prime culprit is a rapidly spreading fungus that has also affected amphibians on other continents.

Based on that research, Lips and her colleagues estimate that within six months of the fungus's arrival in a new area, about half of the amphibian species present there and 80 percent of individual animals will succumb to it. Global climate change may be enabling the fungus to spread so rapidly and have such extreme effects, the scientists note.

Other key threats to amphibians include habitat loss and pollution.