Frogs, because of the nature of how they breed and reproduce are often the first to go when there is pollution in the environment. Their thin permeable skin allows pollutants to easily pass into their systems.
High levels of nutrients used in farming and ranching activities fuel parasite infections that have caused highly publicized frog deformities in ponds and lakes across North America, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The study showed increased levels of nitrogen and phosphorus cause sharp hikes in the abundance and reproduction of a snail species that hosts microscopic parasites known as trematodes...