THE DISCOVERY OF dead and rotting frogspawn in the Wicklow Mountains is “not a good sign” for the state of Ireland’s ecosystem, a zoology researcher has said.
Frogspawn has long been an indicator that spring has arrived, but extreme temperatures in the last few months may have interfered with the natural timeline.
Collie Ennis, Science Officer for the Herpetological Society of Ireland, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that this discovery is “a real headscratcher”.
“Frogs are a really good indicator of healthy ecosystems and to see a mass die-off of spawn in these large numbers, and especially in a wilderness area, it’s really concerning”, he said.
Was out around Sally gap and surrounding forestry plantations checking ponds today as part of ongoing amphibian survey work. Every pond is full of dead rotting spawn. All of it failed. I've never seen anything like it before. Not a single tadpole where there should be thousands.
— Collie Ennis 🕷🐸 (@collieennis) April 22, 2023
There are a number of possible causes of this unusual development, Ennis says, and long-term studies are needed.
“But we’re guessing that the swings in temperature that we got during the spring could’ve affected them”, he said.
“Also frogs and amphibians need very cold temperatures to kick them into gear for reproduction … we had a very mild winter and then we had a very very cold snap in the spring.
“Acidity in the water could be another factor as well.”
He said that “boots on the ground” are needed to fully explore the causes and effects of this phenomenon can be determined.
We really need long term, trend data studies in these isolated areas. Just to keep our finger on what's actually happening. Amphibians are valuable indicators of healthy ecosystems, so our hills aren't looking too healthy at all. Events like this warrant careful scrutiny. pic.twitter.com/GV005bAi7r
— Collie Ennis 🕷🐸 (@collieennis) April 22, 2023
After tweeting about what he found, Ennis says some users responded with reports of similar findings in their own gardens.
“So it’s very random but very widespread throughout the country”, he said.
“Even into east England as well we’ve gotten reports from over there.”
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