Rare yellow-legged frogs are returned to drought-hammered San Gabriel Mountains
By Robert D. Simpson
A California native, a yellow-legged frog can be easily spotted in the wild. An adult, which weighs 5.8 ounces (150 grams) has a tadpole-like appearance with a yellow-green body and a gray-brown to dark brown pattern.
The yellow-legged frog (Rana muscipula muscipula) and other California frogs were once common in the San Gabriel Mountains, but habitat loss is threatening their survival.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the San Gabriel Mountains, which is located in the eastern Sierra Nevada, is home to about 17,000 species of plants and animals, with species diversity on par with the eastern Sierra.
About 50 percent of the species in the U.S., from around the world, are found in just five mountain ranges: the Sierra, the Cascades, the Rockies, the Appalachians, and the Sierra Nevada. The San Gabriel Mountains is one of the most vulnerable because of the loss of water and habitat, not to mention the invasive species such as the Asian long-horned burrow beetle, which is expanding its range westward into the San Gabriel Mountains.
“These mountains are so special,” said Jeff Hirtz, a biologist with the University of California, Davis, who studies the San Gabriel Mountains. “They are one of the best places on the planet for the preservation and protection of plant and animal species.”
Hirtz, who’s spent more than 40 years studying the San Gabriel Mountains, recently released a study that shows the threat to the frogs’ survival by the Asian long-horned burrow beetle, or “Alley Cat,” which has become a pestilent presence in the San Gabriel Mountains. Alley Cats are primarily rodents who are introduced to areas through animal control agencies