The cold-blooded amphibians includes frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, and the worm-like caecilians. Named for their dual existence – they live partly in water, partly on land – amphibians are found on every continent except Antarctica and reside in a variety of habitats including wetlands, rainforests, rivers and streams, deserts, and mountains. More than 6,000 amphibian species exist worldwide, with approximately 300 of them found in the United States. In response to indications of declines of amphibian populations worldwide, the National Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) was formed. WARC’s amphibian researchers help ARMI provide amphibian status and trend information to environmental managers, relate status and trends to management options, identify causes of amphibian declines, and provide essential information to support management actions that will arrest or reverse declines.
