For the past 20 years, volunteers and biologists have been listening at night. They try to hear the songs of 13 kinds of frogs and toads in Michigan. Wildlife biologist Lori Sargent at the State Department of Natural Resources says the annual amphibian survey is a good way to monitor the environment.
“We started them because there was a thought worldwide that amphibian populations were declining back in the 80’s. So we started to see how amphibian populations in Michigan were doing.”
Sargent says amphibian populations in Michigan have been stable over the last two decades. She's in charge of collecting all of the data. Sargent asks volunteers every year to go to ten wetland sites three times from spring until the end of summer.
“You’re driving around at night. You want to go to less populated areas where it's darker. And you’re standing by your car, because the sites are at least a half a mile apart, so you have to drive. You get out of your car, turn it off, and just stand there and listen for five minutes and write down the species of frogs you hear calling.”
Sargent says the survey is more fun than work. She enjoys collecting data and comparing it to previous years and hopes a lot of people will join the project this year.
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