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). 

The Atlanta Botanical Garden has captive colonies of several rare frog species from Panama. A deadly fungal disease known as Chytridiomycosis has swept through their habitat. Our project will serve as a model that could be used in other countries for coordinating an emergency response to the critical needs of amphibians on the brink of disappearing. Many threatened Panamanian species are now safely in captivity serving as “assurance colonies” to retain as much genetic diversity for the species as possible.

Some species in the Garden's collection include: 

  Hylomantis lemur
  Red-Eyed Leaf Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) - This famous rainforest icon inhabits the Fuqua Conservatory and can be heard calling at night. Visitors occasionally discover egg masses attached to the backs of leaves overhanging ponds in the conservatory. Large tadpoles can be seen in the conservatory ponds nearly year-round.
  Glass Frogs (Centrolenids) - We are currently working with three species in the research lab, learning how to breed them and raise offspring in captivity.

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.

The poison frogs of Costa Rica, including Dendrobates auratus, D. pumilio and Phyllobates lugubris, share their display with the Mountain Stream Frog, Dendropsophus ebracattus.

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. Captive colonies of some of these Panamanian frogs are alive and well (and in some cases breeding) here in the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Frog Pod. 

Through these efforts a model was developed that can be adopted quickly and efficiently worldwide when amphibians become threatened by disease, habitat loss, contamination or other forces.

Collaboration and captive breeding efforts extend beyond these two institutions to partnerships with other institutions such as the Houston Zoo, El Nispero Zoo in Panama, and personnel on the ground in Panama. 

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.

Ecuador

Atlanta Botanical Garden staff have spent considerable time exploring the cloud forests of Ecuador in search of both plants and frogs. Collaborations with Dr. Luis Coloma at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador are focused on the conservation of the Atelopus species.


United States

Atlanta Botanical Garden amphibian staff are monitoring the potential spread of an amphibian disease within the state of Georgia. The presence of an emergent infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, has been confirmed in Georgia’s amphibian populations. The localities where individual amphibians have tested positive are limited thus far but the threat is serious. This fungus has driven to extinction and spurred the decline of many amphibians.

Helping the Gopher Frog in Georgia

he Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Nature Conservancy have teamed up over the past three years to give a helping hand to a native frog that is in decline (the Gopher Frog, Rana capito). The project removes fertile eggs from the wild, brings them back to ABG facilities, and the developing tadpoles are maintained and safeguarded from predators. Young frogs and late stage tadpoles are returned to a TNC preserve in Georgia where the frogs will have a better chance to establish a thriving population. These released frogs have also been marked with a special acrylic elastomer, basically a frog tattoo, so that if they are recaptured in the future, biologists will know when they were released. Head starting programs allow populations of an endangered species to enjoy greater annual recruitment than would normally exist in nature by raising larval amphibians in the safe confines of a laboratory, to be released into a preserve as subadults. 


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.

Why should we care? Amphibians are not only a key component of the natural food chain, but are also considered indicators of overall environmental health.  Efforts at the Atlanta Botanical Garden are focused on taking action against amphibian extinction while promoting education and research both at home and abroad. Rescue programs strive to give some amphibian species a lien  on life. However, for many amphibians, time is of the  essence!   Click here to visit the Amphibian Research donation page.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden has partnered with the National Zoo in Santiago, Chile, to try to help save the endangered Darwin’s frogs. The overall aim of this project is to facilitate an integrated program including: (1) ex situ breeding efforts in Chile (at the zoo) and (2) in situ conservation work to preserve Darwin’s frogs (Rhinderma darwinii and R. rufum) through updates of population status, testing populations for infectious disease, and continuance of the search for R. rufum. Rhinoderma rufum has not been seen for some years now. A website detailing our efforts with this project is under construction right now and a link will be available here soon.