This is a photo of me doing field research in Olympic National Park, Washington in the summer of 2019. We were investigating the effects of climate change on alpine amphibians. Alpine amphibians are great indicators of ecosystem health as they are very sensitive to minute changes in the environment. Alpine amphibians rely on small alpine ponds as sanctuaries. This alpine pond, like the many we visited, are very sensitive to increase temperature and rainfall. Increased temperatures have lead to increased evaporation rates, leading to whole ponds evaporating and disappearing. Thus, decreasing the available suitable habitat for alpine amphibians leading to population declines.

Like 0