Study: Amphibians disappearing at alarming rate

    A new study has determined for the first time just how quickly frogs and other amphibians are disappearing around the United States, and the news is not good.

    The U.S. Geological Study says populations of frogs, salamanders and toads have been vanishing from occupied sites at a rate of 3.7 percent a year.

    That puts them on a path to disappearing from half the occupied sites nationwide in 20 years.

    USGS ecologist Michael Adams says the alarming news is that even species thought to be doing OK are declining, though at a slower rate.

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    It has been known that amphibians are in trouble around the world from a killer fungus, habitat loss and a changing climate, but this is the first time that decline has been measured.

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