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PA EPA SPONSORS WORKSHOP ON AMPHIBIAN MALFORMATIONS AP. 15-16

Release Date: 04/11/97
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PA EPA SPONSORS WORKSHOP ON AMPHIBIAN MALFORMATIONS AP. 15-16

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1997

EPA SPONSORS WORKSHOP ON AMPHIBIAN MALFORMATIONS APRIL 15-16

EPA's Office of Research and Development and the National Park Service (NPS) are jointly sponsoring a workshop to review new reports on malformations in certain frog populations and to discuss sampling protocols and data objectives that will help determine their cause. The workshop also will include a presentation on a national reporting center that is being developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to support the analysis of amphibian data collected by states and other organizations. The workshop will be held in Shenandoah National Park April 15-16. The morning of the workshop will highlight an agreement between EPA and NPS to build an intensive environmental monitoring network utilizing existing research facilities at 12 national parks. The joint program, known as the Demonstration Intensive Sites Project, or "DISPro," will conduct an inventory of amphibian species at all 12 parks, with surveys to include the number of species and any malformities. Under the agreement EPA and NPS are also funding the installation of UV-B monitoring stations at the parks, four of which are currently operating, including one that was installed at Shenandoah National Park last month. Increasing UV-B radiation, which is the result of ozone depletion, could be contributing to amphibian deformities and population declines. Data collected under the DISPro project will help investigate this hypothesis. Presentations later that morning will address an overview of amphibian population trends, discussions on malformations in frog populations inhabiting specific sites in the United States and Canada, and a review of various hypotheses that have been suggested to explain reported increases in frog malformities. The remainder of the workshop will involve open discussions on these issues and small group meetings that will work on guidance for field sampling protocols and details of the national reporting center. Copies of the workshop summary and other papers presented at the workshop will be available in late May on the Internet at https://www.epa.gov/ORD/whatsnew.htm.

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