Economics and Ecology

Abstract

Whole classes of animals are mysteriously declining in population and possibly headed to extinction. Take frogs, for example. The Global Amphibian Assessment found in 2004 that, due to mass die-offs and loss of habitat, about a third of all species of frogs, toads and salamanders could soon disappear. That the problem could be worldwide, affecting these creatures in Canada and Madagascar, is particularly disturbing. Recent evidence points to an outbreak of skin fungus as an important factor, itself possibly linked to global climate change, but researchers admit the problem—if it is one problem and not a combination of many problems—is still only dimly understood.