WEBVTT

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- Ami Eckard-Lee: Did you know,
over 40% of amphibian species

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are threatened with extinction,

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while hundreds of species
have already gone extinct?

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And scientists are attributing
this to changes

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in climate and habitat.

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But what exactly is happening

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to the habitat of our frog
and toad friends?

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And what can we do about it?

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Shh, the show is starting!

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[bright music]

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- Yuck, it's disgusting.
- Here.

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- I mean, have you ever seen it
like this?

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- Well, no, never.

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- Who knows what it'll be like
for our kids?

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Or our kids' kids?

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We are already seeing
weird stuff.

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- What's that got to do
with the pond?

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- Everything!

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Each year, it's warmer.

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Okay, and warmer water means
more algae.

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More algae means less water.

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Before you know it, the pond
will be completely dried out

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and we'll just be these
dried husks baking in the sun.

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- Okay, time out.

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That was a play called<i>Pond Life</i>

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from the Climate Change Theatre
Action Global festival.

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But we'll catch up with those
two fabulous frogs later.

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Right now, I want to figure out

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how these significant changes
to the ecosystem

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affect frogs and toads,

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and how we can avoid this.
[boing]

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Let's hop on over to the lab to
meet up with some researchers

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conducting a study on how
winter temperatures

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impact tadpoles in the spring.

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- Jessica Hua: Winter is really
important for amphibians

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because how winter temperatures
change

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influence how much energy
they use over winter.

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Amphibians have this adaptation
where they can freeze solid.

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- What?
- Yeah,

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so they could freeze
completely solid

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to deal with cold temperatures.

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But if the temperatures are warm
during the winter,

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they thaw,
and then they refreeze,

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and they thaw,
and they refreeze,

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and that's really, really
energetically costly.

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When spring comes and they want
to reproduce,

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make more tadpoles,
they have less energy

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to give to that next generation.

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- Hilary Dugan: Winter leads
into spring, and that transition

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is just an incredibly kind of
dynamic time of the year

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where the animals have evolved
to know, like,

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what time of the year it is.

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There's lots of food web
interactions happening

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at the same time, right?

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I mean, the frogs need food, but
the frogs also might be food.

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We call it phenology.

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That's where the timing of these
organismal events happening.

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And so, some years they all
match up really nicely,

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and everyone has food,
and some years,

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you get weird weather events
where it, we call it mismatch,

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where one population might grow,
but their, you know,

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their food source didn't,

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and so it gets sort of, like,
mismatched in timing.

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- Minor changes in temperature

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actually can have huge effects
down the line,

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and oftentimes it's cryptic

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until you understand the ecology
of it.

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And not to mention, when you
have these late winter storms,

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oftentimes there are pollutants
involved.

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So, things like road salts
are used to control ice,

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and when these pollutants
run into the water,

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it can add another layer of
stressor for these amphibians

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that are also dealing
with changing temperatures.

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When there are salts
in the water,

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tadpoles are more susceptible

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to their parasites.
- Ami: Oh!

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- Diseases are emerging
at unprecedented rates.

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Why?
- Why?

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- Is it temperatures
that are now different?

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Is it pollutants
that are in the system?

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So, those are some of the
questions that we ask

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in this lab.

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- Well, I also wanted to ask
about that,

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because I think of a lab,
and I think of test tubes,

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and chemicals, and lab coats,
but you have kiddie pools.

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What is happening in this
really cool setup here?

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What are you studying?

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- Jessica: Here,
what we're looking at

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is how early life conditions
influence susceptibility

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to disease and road salts.
- Ami: Okay.

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What have you learned so far?

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- Jessica: Imagine a scenario
where a mom lays its eggs,

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and then you get this, like,
winter storm that comes in.

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It freezes,
and then it warms up again.

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- Ami: Okay.
- Jessica: Those tadpoles

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underwent a late winter storm.
- Ami: Yeah.

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- Jessica: Another set
of tadpoles,

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there isn't that
late winter storm.

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- Ami: Yep.
- Jessica: So, now you have

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those two groups.

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If you expose the group

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that went under that late
winter storm to road salts,

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they had that extra stressor.

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They're much more susceptible
to road salts than those

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that never had to deal with that

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late winter storm.
- Ami: Okay.

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- So, if winter/spring
transition temperatures

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continue to change,

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where there are these late,
false spring storms,

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it can endanger tadpoles

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and make them more susceptible
to pollutants

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in their environment.

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- Changes in the winter
to spring phenology

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have cascading impacts
on amphibians,

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the food web,
and the entire ecosystem,

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many of which we still
don't understand.

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So, what can we do to learn more
about the changes happening

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in the wetland ecosystems
and to amphibian life cycles?

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Let's meet up with a family
in northern Wisconsin

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that volunteers with the DNR's
Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey

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to learn more about how changes
in phenology

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are affecting amphibians.

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- Travis Stuck:
Frogs are amazing.

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We're here as part
of the Frog Survey,

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and we're here primarily
looking for,

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actually listening for frogs.

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- Rhonda Stuck:
When I first started

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doing the Wisconsin
Frog and Toad Survey,

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I did not know anything
about frogs and toads

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and which was what.

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So, the DNR's website
has a wealth of information.

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I could listen to calls

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and learn how to identify
the sounds I was hearing.

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- You don't have to have any
experience to do this.

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It's really simple.

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The data sheet is up that

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anybody can take a little time
and learn how to identify frogs.

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- Miles Stuck: You don't really
hear about this stuff

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anywhere else.

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It's, so, in-person,

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it's the best way to hear
about it, learn about it.

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- Can you walk me through
kind of what a survey night

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looks like for you?

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- We usually,
we get our gear on.

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We get our data sheet ready

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and our little frog call
cheat sheet.

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We hop in the car and we drive
over, and as we get closer,

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we roll down our windows so we
can start to hear the frogs

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through the just open windows.

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[whispers] We get out quietly
and we listen.

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We write down the number
of species that we hear

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and how many.

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And we record the wind speed,
the temperature,

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water temperature,
is it overcast?

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- What is the purpose?

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What do you use the data for?

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- With consistent data gathering
over a long period of time,

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they can track the population
and distribution of frogs

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throughout the state
of Wisconsin.

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- It just shows
if they're being affected,

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everything else
is being affected.

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- Thanks to volunteers,

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researchers have decades' worth
of data on amphibian phenology

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that helps them determine

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when frogs and toads are
emerging in the spring,

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what their populations are,

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and where certain species
are located in the state.

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This data helps scientists
determine

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what is causing
population declines

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and helps lead us to solutions.

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Now, let's see if we can meet up
with those two frogs--

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I mean actresses-- to talk about
their ribbeting play.

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So, what is the CCTA?

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What is the Climate Change
Theatre Action festival?

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- Chloe Maier: Yeah, so it's
like a worldwide global festival

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that brings together playwrights
to put together and write, like,

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short plays that have to do
with current climate issues.

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- How do you think artists and
creatives can use their skills

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to help with climate change?

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- AJ Stoffels: I see theater
as an amazing platform

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to bring up any issue under the
sun because people like art.

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And so, if we're able to use art
to begin conversations

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about things that
are so prevalent

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and so important,
such as climate change,

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I think that's a really
important aspect of art.

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- I think what was cool

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is I was able to sort of live
the theme of the play of, like,

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do something, do what you can,
and what I was able to do

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was perform and put on art
with my friends.

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- The only thing we can do
is what we can do.

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- What do you mean?

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- I know it seems overwhelming,
but this pond, our lives,

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you know, it's all we got.

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And we got to do what we can

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while we're still here
to make things better.

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You know, how else are things
gonna change?

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- We can all do something

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to help protect amphibians
and their habitats.

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You can start at home by using
less salt on your driveway

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or sidewalk in the winter,

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or become an advocate
in your community

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for protecting ponds
from pollutants

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like salt and other chemicals.

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Participate in citizen science
programs that gather data,

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or help educate others
and spread awareness.

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And don't forget,
art is a wonderful way

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to help people understand
and empathize.

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We are all capable
of making positive change.

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Right, you never know what
ripple effect

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it's gonna have.
- Chloe: Exactly.

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- Did you get my--
- The pond pun?

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- Oh, wait, that was good!

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That was good!
[Ami laughs]

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- Wait, say it again and then
we'll laugh.

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- The ripple effect.
[all laugh]