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A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 8 May 2019

This May 3, 2019, photo provided by the National Park Service
shows a close-up image of a red-legged frog released on Fri-
day May 3, 2019 in Cook's Meadow in Yosemite Valley.
Associated Press
Red-legged frogs

thriving in Yosemite Hungarian President Janos Ader, right, wearing a beekeeper hat gets to know the biomonitoring
system for bee life at the University of Sopron, where he delivered a lecture on climate change in
Sopron, 210 kms west of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, May 7, 2019.
after long absence Science Says: Why biodiversity
Associated Press

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, reflection pond spread
frogs made famous by over time, gobbled them matters to you
Calif. (AP) — Red-legged throughout the valley and,
Mark Twain are thriving in up.
Yosemite Valley after a de- The insatiable bullfrogs BY SETH BORENSTEIN tem Services (IPBES) report loss could cost the world
cades-long absence. have been eradicated AP Science Writer points to more than 2,500 $285 billion to $577 billion a
Ecologists this spring found from the park, clearing the You may go your entire wars and other conflicts year.
clusters of eggs in mead- way for the red-legged life without seeing an en- over fossil fuels, water, food MEDICINE and HEALTH
ows and ponds, proof of the frog's return. dangered species, yet the and land to show how im- About 70% of the drugs
first breeding by the frogs in The amphibians were rein- globe's biodiversity crisis portant nature is. used to fight cancer "are
Yosemite since 2017, when troduced in Yosemite Na- threatens all of humanity "Protecting biodiversity natural or are synthetic
adult red-legged frogs tional Park under a partner- in numerous unseen or un- means protecting mankind products inspired by na-
were reintroduced after a ship with federal and state recognized ways, scientists because we human beings ture," the report said. About
50-year absence, Yosemite agencies, the Yosemite say. depend fundamentally on 4 billion people rely primar-
National Park Superinten- Conservancy and the San A massive United Nations the diversity of the living," ily on natural medicines.
dent Mike Reynolds said Francisco Zoo & Gardens, report this week warned UNESCO Director-General George Mason University
Monday. where thousands tadpoles that nature is in trouble, Audrey Azoulay said in an- ecologist Thomas Lovejoy
"It's unusual to find eggs in and adult frogs are being estimated 1 million species nouncing the report in Par- points to a single heat-thriv-
any location and to find bred for release in the park are threatened with extinc- is. ing microbe that comes
them this soon is a strong 200 miles (320 kilometers) tion if nothing is done and Here are four ways human- out of Yellowstone National
indication that red-legged away. said the worldwide dete- ity depends on nature, ac- Park's hot springs. Pieces of
frogs are adapting suc- The program has reintro- rioration of nature is every- cording to the report and its genetic code are the key
cessfully to the riparian ar- duced an estimated 4,000 body's problem. scientists: to a scientific technique
eas where we reintroduced California red-legged frog "Nature is essential for hu- FOOD called polymerase chain
them," Reynolds said. eggs and tadpoles and man existence and good Nearly all food comes di- reaction (PCR) that is used
The California red-legged 500 adult frogs, setting quality of life," the report rectly from nature, said re- for medical, genetic and
frog is named for its colorful them free in the park's lush said. port co-author Kai Chan, forensic tests and much of
legs and belly. It was fea- meadows, alpine lakes and Food, energy, medicine, an environmental scientist modern biotechnology.
tured in Twain's short story winding Merced River. water, protection from at the University of British "Nature underpins all di-
"The Celebrated Jumping At 2 to 5 inches long (5-13 storms and floods and slow- Columbia. Even though mensions of human health,"
Frog of Calaveras County." centimeters), red-legged ing climate change are overall the world is grow- the report said.
The frog disappeared from frogs are the largest native some of the 18 ways nature ing more food, pressure FIGHTING CLIMATE
Yosemite in part because frogs in the West and once helps keep people alive, on crops from pollution, CHANGE
non-native, predatory bull- were found throughout the report said. And it con- habitat changes and oth- The world's forests and
frogs first introduced to a California.q cluded 14 of those are on er forces has made prices oceans suck nearly 6.2 bil-
long-term declining trends. soar and even caused lion tons (5.6 billion metric
"You destroy nature and food riots in Latin America, tons) of heat-trapping car-
it's going to bite you back," he said. bon dioxide out of the air
Duke University ecology Pollinators across the each year, the report said.
Stuart Pimm said, pointing globe, not just bees, are in That's about 60% of what
to how difficult it has been decline. Three quarters of humans produce through
for China to recover from the world's food crops, in- burning fossil fuels.
decades of forest loss. cluding fruits, vegetables, Earth would be warming
The Intergovernmental coffee and cocoa, require more and faster without
Science-Policy Platform pollination. forests and oceans, scien-
on Biodiversity and Ecosys- The report said pollinator tists said.q