BRAZIL’S FAUNA
(Page prepared by a nature’s observer)

Frogs and Toads (Order Anura)

Environmental destruction and anurans communities

         Because of the limitation that it suffers related to its small mobility, it is concluded that anurans are animals that are highly submitted to environmental destruction damage, because the changing of a certain environment as a lake or pond can easily kill animals of a specie or a lot of species, also being possible the extinction of some endemic specie, occasioning a big ecological catastrophe, some times no even noticed, because these are little known and small species.
        So the reason for the anurans, in general, being more exposed to depredation and environmental changing, than another animals, which bigger mobility allows them moving with agility, quickly and with sufficient autonomy for reaching a secure place, also reaching an alike habitat trying for survive.
         It must be observed, also, that among anurans, there are more specialized species, that have the necessity of certain environments for surviving, and so have less adaptation facility, what can make them disappearing easier, because of the modification at its specific area.
Pollution has drastic influence on anures, that are very sensible, because its skin absorbs the air humidity. The acid and invisible rain has been bringing some changing in anuran populations, as we can observe at Parque Nacional do Itatiaia (RJ), where the industries of Vale do Paraíba expel tons of toxic residues on the air, that are left by aerial circulation up the mountains of the reserve where it accumulates and after coming with the local raining (as said by Hélio Gouveia). Inclusive, some species that used to be abundant, are not found anymore nowadays.
        Also the dissemble by part of the population about anures makes them as targets of the most drastic repulses and exterminations. Just for giving some examples, we can see that is common the exceeding cleaning around country houses, destroying small native plants, and also the "beneath cleaning" of forest, for looking as a garden, and also a non necessary swamp landfill, for avoiding the existence of the "undesirable and repugnant" toads, frogs and snakes.
        These activities that cause damage to the environment that seeming to be common to man, are in great part not necessary, and when practiced, reach the anures drastically.
        Also the dissemble about the defense mechanism of anures toxic secretions are one more factor for their persecute, generating changing in the environment with the purpose of avoiding its presence near man. So, this factors have been generating environmental changing, occasioning the extermination of many anures, and also probably of species that are not known yet and described by Science, remembering that the Atlantic Wood from east, southeast and south Brazil is being extinct without having an exact notion of all of its whole splendid biodiversity.