A Pacific Chorus FrogWhen I was growing up in the Bay Area the chirping croaks of native tree frogs often serenaded us to sleep. The sound of those little Pacific Chorus frogs calling to each other was always familiar background music to long summer nights. Those were days of catching pollywogs down at the creek and finding Western Toads in our backyard garden. My brother and I knew exactly where the toads liked to sit during the hot summer afternoons. And like most young boys it was nearly impossible to resist picking them up and interrupting the poor animals' siestas. Of course the toads always expressed their irritation in the same way, leading us to immediately put them back down in gleeful disgust. This was a wonderful part of each summer's routine.

I'm sad to say my daughter probably won't share those same experiences I had. I could say it's because we live in San Francisco and cities aren't as amphibian-friendly as the suburbs. But my parents still live in the same house where I grew up. Unfortunately, it has been years since we've seen toads in the garden there. And the quiet singing of the tree frogs seems much lonelier today.

Amphibian decline is happening all over the world. And as depressing as it is not to have those fun childhood experiences of catching, playing with and hearing frogs in the garden, there is a much more serious problem going on. This can have some serious consequences to local food webs. It is also an alarming sign that there is something really unusual happening with the world's environment.

There are many reasons for the decline in the world's amphibian populations. And it seems that each region of the globe, and maybe even each species, may have its own ticking time bomb. Some places may be experiencing rapid habitat decline. There is pollution in the rainwater and chemical run-off in lakes and streams. Some places are seeing a sharp increase in parasites and diseases. Scientists are even looking at increased UV radiation. Or maybe it's a combination of multiple factors. The result is part of what some scientists are now calling the "sixth wave of extinction."

That’s a lot of doom and gloom. Luckily, scientists are racing to understand this decline and hopefully may come up with a means of curbing it before it is too late. We were fortunate to meet some of the best. We joined herpetologists Karen Swaim and Vance Vredenburg out into the field to learn more about what is happening to our local California red-legged frogs. We also visited the laboratory of Professor Tyrone Hayes at UC Berkeley to learn what his team is discovering about the connection between agricultural pesticides and frog decline. (See our additional web-only interview with Professor Hayes) You can test your amphibian knowledge by taking our QUEST quiz. Do you know why my brother and I always put down those toads?

Watch the "Disappearing Frogs" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.

Chris Bauer is a Segment Producer for television on QUEST.

Today, Quest launches a new part of our blog, "Quest Picks."

We scour the web and serve up the best of science, environment and nature content–from the Bay area and beyond–right to our readers.

Today's pick is from YouTube.

National Geographic, via YouTube, brings us the tale of Australia’s water-holding frog. This plucky amphibian rarely sees rain, so when it does, it slurps enough liquid to double its weight. Then it digs a hole and hides in a shell made of its own shed skin. It can hibernate for up to two years, until the rainy season comes 'round again and it's time to look for a mate.Supposedly aboriginals even dig up the frogs when they need a drink–just squeeze and you've got fresh water!Check out the video of this amphibious camel for more on its amazing adaptations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuWo_kWMihs

Amber Dance is the Quest Intern and a science communication student at UC Santa Cruz.