User:Elopingjackalopes/sandbox

Effects on Saskatchewan's Reptiles and Amphibians
Saskatchewan is home to a variety of reptile and amphibians, including two species of turtles, one species of lizard, nine species of snakes, one species of salamander and six species of frogs. Each of these species represents an important stepping stone in a unique food web, either by acting as a predator or as prey. Reptiles and amphibians act as biological controls for vectors of human diseases, such as mosquito's and ticks. They also serve as critical food sources for native and migrating bird populations throughout the province. To lose this source of biodiversity would affect the health of the respective Saskatchewan ecosystems immensely. However, the majority of the populations of these species are already at risk due to other anthropogenic factors, such as pollution and habitat destruction. Climate change may exacerbate the already tenuous positions these species hold in their respective ecosystems.

Concrete examples of risks posed to reptile and amphibian populations in Saskatchewan have been poorly studied, yet many examples exist around the world of the consequences on these fragile organisms from around the world. Desertification of wetland habitats as a result of changing precipitation patterns will decrease the amount of suitable breeding habitat, decreasing populations of amphibians and water dependent reptiles. Such a desertification effect is currently being demonstrated in certain regions of China.

Changes in air temperatures (specifically night temperatures) may affect the metamorphosis rates and reproductive patterns of certain reptile or amphibian species as well. As exemplified in Side Blotched Lizards (genus Uta) in the United States a nighttime temperature increases raises the rate at which these species may reproduce. This may seem like a positive effect for many shrinking populations, however as habitat sizes continue to decrease, requirements for survival such as food availability may dwindle to the point where larger populations would not survive. Therefore an effect such as increased reproduction in certain species, may have an overall negative effect on the survival of that species in the wild.

Arguably the greatest and most dramatic threat to amphibian populations in the wild has been the appearance and spread of a Chytrid Fungus (specifically, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), and an increase in global climate temperatures may facilitate a movement of the fungus northward, thus affecting Canada's species of amphibians.

It is critical to monitor the populations of reptiles and amphibians more vigorously throughout Saskatchewan, to better understand the current roles they play in food webs, thus to understand the effects that losing these valuable species may have on our province.