A variety of factors are serious threats to reptiles and amphibians.  Worldwide, the loss of amphibian species as well as turtle species constitutes an extinction crisis.  As spelled out in the 2000 article by J. Whitfield Gibbons and others in BioScience, the threats to herps include:

 * Habitat loss and degradation

 * Introduced invasive species

 * Environmental pollution

 * Disease

 * Unsustainable use

 * Global climate change

This is not some exotic problem to worry about in some other country; habitat loss is a real problem in Texas, and we need look no further than the closest fire ant mound to see an example of an introduced invasive species.  Pollution is certainly an issue here at home.  Diseases affecting herps include a fungal disease that kills amphibians – chytridiomycosis.  Unsustainable use has been a likely issue in turtle declines including here in Texas.  Global climate change threatens to harm herp populations by changing habitats, changing factors such as temperature or rainfall outside of livable parameters for a given species, and even changing sex ratios of species whose sex is determined during incubation by the temperature of their surroundings.    

Anything we can do to diminish the threats listed above will help.  This includes supporting habitat preservation (check out the Nature Conservancy for more about this), never release anything – plant or animal – that does not belong in that location, contribute less to pollution, do not release any herp that could be carrying disease into the wild populations, do not collect more than a very few animals (if at all) and don’t buy wild caught animals.  And finally, support efforts to decrease the amount of greenhouse pollutants generated.

Check out Partners in Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (PARC) - http://www.parcplace.org/ - partnership between public & private organizations with the goal of herp conservation and “keeping common species common.”

Field of pitcher plants - Big Thicket National Preserve

This is a short article from 2008 summarizing some research findings from Dr. Malcolm McCallum about the rate of extinction of amphibians.  (click the title above to download)

This is an article reprinted from the April, 2011 issue of Texas Field Notes. It describes some of the threats to Texas herps, some species that are in trouble, and offers some thoughts about what we can do to help. (click the title above to download)

Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), a protected species in Texas