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SCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT-FROGS-PHONE
Phone home Kermit? Keeping tabs on frogs
PARIS, Dec 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Frogs are among the most threatened
species on the planet due to climate change and loss of habitat, but now
scientists have developed a novel way to keep tabs on them in the wild — a
“Frogphone.”
“The FrogPhone is the world’s first solar-powered remote survey device,”
relaying real-time data about the study site and its occupants to scientists,
according to a paper in the Methods in Ecology and Evolution journal.
Researchers anywhere can phone up the device which, for example, will
relay the sound of frogs calling directly to the user’s cellphone, allowing
them to identify different species.
“We estimate that the device with its current microphone can detect
calling frogs from a 100-150 metres (310-470 feet) radius,” said lead author
Dr. Adrian Garrido Sanchis of the University of New South Wales.
“The device allows us to monitor the local frog population with more
frequency and ease, which is significant as frog species are widely
recognised as indicators of environmental health,” said the Australian
Capital Territory and Region Frogwatch coordinator and co-author, Anke Maria
Hoefer.
Hoefer said the Frogphone also minimises direct human intrusion at survey
sites, which are most active at night and sometimes very remote and difficult
to access on a regular basis.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2025HRS