April 14, 2009
Students research reptiles along the Peruvian Amazon
Four undergraduate students from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
(UWSP) will share findings from their recent travels to Peru as part of a
herpetology biodiversity research team on a Peruvian tributary of the Amazon
River. Herpetology is the scientific study of the biology of reptiles and
amphibians. The team will present its research at the College of Letters
and Science’s Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday,
April 24.
Erik Wild, professor of biology, led the students as part of a Winterim
expedition to Puerto Maldonado, near the Bolivia/Peru border.
“My students excelled at their research and all of them demonstrated a real
passion for herpetology,” said Wild. “Their research is part of an ongoing
long-term study to monitor the herpetological biodiversity in the Peruvian
Amazon.”
The four students who took part in the research include junior Angela Klish
of Stevens Point, senior Jaimie Klemish of New Auburn, junior Christopher
Taylor of Chanhassen, Minn., and junior Brooke Johnson of Stillwater, Minn.
All are biology majors except Taylor who is majoring in wildlife ecology
research and management. In 2004 Wild participated in a global amphibian
assessment and found that over 30 percent of amphibian species face some
threat of extinction. There is growing empirical data confirming a worldwide
decline in amphibians, according to Wild.
“The loss of habitat is the key culprit in the declining numbers of amphibians.
In addition, a fungal disease is impacting many of these populations and
increasingly we are witnessing climate change impacts on amphibians worldwide.
The good news is that our data appears to confirm that the numbers of species
of amphibians at our site in the Amazon River basin is relatively stable when
compared to other sites throughout the world.”
Wild and his students worked during the Peruvian rainy season and had
encounters with Amazonian wildlife beyond reptiles and amphibians including
a three-toed sloth and howler monkeys to name a few. They also kept a cautious
eye out for poisonous reptiles and biting insects that inhabit the Amazonian
ecosystem. Wild has been taking students to this research site every two years
for the past decade.
Each student received funding for the trip through a $500 Student Research Fund
grant as well as financial assistance from the College of Letters and Science
Undergraduate Education Initiative. Two of the students also received a UWSP
International Programs scholarship.
