Do you love hearing the symphony of ribbits and croaks at a pond, or watching young toadlets and froglets hop in the willows? Then the Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project is the perfect place for you! This citizen science and professional monitoring project is geared toward gathering as much information as we can about amphibians in Wyoming and beyond! Learn more about the project below.
But they need our help! Amphibians are disappearing around the world. Because they don’t get much attention, oftentimes populations disappear without anyone knowing… until it’s too late.
We need people to be partners in helping keep track of amphibian populations in the Rocky Mountain region so that we can identify problems in time to correct them. Standardized monitoring allows us to have an "early warning system" that will alert us to potential declines. Once alerted, we can focus our resources on correcting the problem before it’s too late.
Please consider helping us keep track of these amazing creatures by adopting a survey catchment in your area!
The Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project was launched in April 2014, after years of discussion and planning with our partners. We currently operate in three National Forests, the Medicine Bow in southeastern Wyoming, the Bridger Teton in northwestern Wyoming, and the Routt in northern Colorado. We hope to expand our project to include more of the region in future years!
The Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project is a partnership of federal and state agencies, academic institutions, non-profit organizations and citizen scientists dedicated to collecting data on amphibians in the Rocky Mountain region in a standardized manner. Resulting datasets are be compatible with existing monitoring programs (e.g., ARMI) and can contribute to analysis of amphibian population trends at multiple spatial scales.
- Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD) - website
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD)
- Medicine Bow and Routt National Forests
- Bridger-Teton National Forest
- USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) - website
- Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP)
- University of Wyoming - website
- Wyoming Geographic Information Sciences Center - website
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
- Boy Scouts of America
- And many more!
The purpose of the Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project is to encourage standardized monitoring of amphibians in the Rocky Mountain region. By following standardized monitoring procedures, data from different agencies, organizations, and from citizen scientists can be combined and used to track amphibian population trends across the region.
Furthermore, by teaching people about amphibians, their unique life histories, and their need for our help, we hope to encourage amphibian conservation in the Rocky Mountain region and beyond.
By engaging the public in citizen science projects like the Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project, the Biodiversity Institute hopes to collect vital data on amphibians in the Rocky Mountain region, while simultaneously teaching people about amphibians, their unique life histories, and their need for our help.
