Water Wheel July/August 2020: Water And The Environment

Abstract

Global award for South Africa’s ‘frog lady’ All forms of life need water to survive, but frogs and other amphibians are especially dependent on living spaces with healthy freshwater supplies. Dr Jeanne Tarrant – one of six global winners of the 2020 Whitely Fund for Nature awards – explains that while frogs have rudimentary lungs, they breathe primarily through their skin. And without water to moisten their thin and highly permeable skin, most frog species would be unable to breathe in oxygen or expel carbon dioxide. The breeding cycle of amphibians is also closely tied to water. For example, their soft, jelly-like eggs have to remain moist, and most species will lay their eggs in or close to freshwater. When they hatch, the young tadpoles will spend their first part of their lives in water. As a result, we should be paying more serious attention to the future of amphibians, says Tarrant, considering that 41% of all amphibian species are at risk of extinction globally, making them one of the most threatened group of animals on the planet.

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