U.S. Water News Online
AUGUSTA -- Frogs and other creatures that usually inhabit wetlands within the Savannah River Site are facing the specter of local extinction as the drought in Georgia enters its fifth straight year, ecologists say.
The drought that has lowered water tables and dried up wells all over the state also has partially emptied the 70,000-acre Thurmond Lake above Augusta. It shows little signs of letting up, and the smallest creatures are paying the biggest price.
David Scott, a research ecologist at Savannah River Ecology Lab, said about 40 different species of amphibians live in wetlands surrounding the nuclear weapons plant across the river from Augusta in South Carolina.
Water tables continue to decline in east Georgia. Thurmond Lake's level is down 12 feet -- down from 330 feet above sea level to just below 318. Augusta-area counties have seen a deficit of about 60 inches in cumulative rainfall since May 1998.
The continuous dry weather has so disrupted the habitat and breeding patterns of some key species that they have slowed reproduction, he said, sometimes to the point of becoming extinct.
``Drought changes the hydro-period of various ponds, meaning areas that (usually) hold water all year now don't,'' said Scott, who has studied frogs and other amphibians in the wetlands for 20 years. ``Some species can't handle that and they drop out, at least locally.''
One such species is the orange banded tiger salamander, which has been vanishing because it's unable to breed.
Georgia's unusually dry weather is also affecting small alligators in south Georgia, who usually stay in shallow ponds to avoiding being eaten by larger alligators but have been increasingly forced into new homes and new danger in deeper water.
The drought also is threatening mollusks and drying up cool springs in the Flint River that sustain important fish species, such as bass.
Wildlife officials say the drought could also hamper quail production, because it deprives newly hatched chicks of many of the insects they feed on and reduces the vegetation that protects them from predators.
Scientists have studied amphibian populations in nearly 300 wetland areas along the Savannah River since the late 1970s but say the current drought cycle is the most severe.
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields