Amphibian Research

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Conservation

The key to Atlanta Botanical Garden's Conservation Program is using low-cost restoration and recovery techniques, and to work directly with local landowners and any relevant agencies, botanical institutes and organizations.

The success of the program is based on the high level of horticultural and botanical expertise of its staff members, their dedication to each project and their ability to work on a variety of different levels - local, national or international.

The mission of the Atlanta Botanical Garden's amphibian program is to promote the conservation of amphibians through education, research and in situ conservation.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden has an active captive breeding and research program with educational displays in the lobby of the Fuqua Conservatory.

Research
Frogs on Display
Partnership with Zoo Atlanta
International Cooperation
Amphibian Pod
Help the amphibians

The Atlanta Botanical Garden is focused on taking action against amphibian declines while promoting education and research both at home and abroad. The rescue programs strive to give some amphibian species a little lien on life. However, for many amphibians, time is of the essence!

Amphibian Conservation Update

Click here to visit the Amphibian Research donation page.

Research

Our amphibian research collections include only species from Latin America, including Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Suriname. Through collaboration with Dr. Chris Shaw at Queens University in N. Ireland, we are able to maintain many species of frogs for research and breeding. For example, we are developing husbandry and breeding techniques for many rare species including the Marsupial Frog,Gastrotheca cornuta, Lemur Leaf Frog, Phyllomedusa lemur, and several species of Glass Frogs (Centrolenids). More Information

Frogs on Display

The lobby of the Fuqua Conservatory is home to several naturalistic displays of frogs from different regions of Central and South America.

The Okopipi Exhibit contains frogs from Suriname, including the rare Blue Poison Frog (Dendrobates azureus) and the Dyeing Poison Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius).

The Terrible Trio exhibit features two of the three deadliest poison frogs from Colombia, including Phyllobates bicolor and P. terribilis. More Information

Partnership with Zoo Atlanta

In late 2004, Atlanta Botanical Garden and Zoo Atlanta formed a temporary partnership to further amphibian research and safeguard critically endangered species. In response to a critical situation in Panama, where many rare species are under threat from a fungal disease, a pilot project was launched. The project implemented emergency response measures to save species feared to be on the brink of extinction. Many of the species evacuated from Panama had never been kept in captivity prior. More Information

International Cooperation

In addition to research at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the staff also maintains an obligation to give back to the countries from which these amphibians come. We strive to help further conservation work through internships, field research assistance and other capacity building measures. More Information

Amphibian Pod

The "FROGpod" concept, pioneered by the Amphibian Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, uses repurposed, insulated shipping cargo containers as modular amphibian laboratories. Garden Amphibian experts assembled the first biosecure amphibian research pod in the U.S. on site at the Garden. The FROGpod allows expansion of the captive breeding program as well as being a more "green" lab, since the water used in the Pod is reclaimed for use in the Garden.

Help the amphibians

Frogs are in trouble! More than one-third of the world's amphibian species are considered threatened or endangered. For decades, scientists have studied the disappearance of amphibians and have even discovered some of the possible causes including global climate change, habitat loss and pollution. Recently, an emerging infectious disease known as the amphibian chytrid fungus has been shown to wipe out massive numbers of amphibans from pristine natural locations in many places around the world. This disease is currently unstoppable in the wild, but treatable in captivity. More Information