Once a year, Maine roads become highways for amphibians

Every spring, volunteers gather on roadways in Maine to monitor frogs and salamanders as they cross the road on their annual migration to the vernal pools where they lay their eggs. 

As Grace Benninghoff explains in Grist, climate change has made the trip more dangerous, and the volunteers are there to track the animals and understand how many are surviving the trek. "Coordinated by Maine Big Night, the effort, which came on April 14 this year, is generating data that is reshaping how communities think about culverts, road maintenance, and other infrastructure."

While the group of volunteers started out just guarding the road as the animals crossed, a nonprofit has now asked them to document their observations at 650 migration sites statewide. "When data last year showed that eight out of 10 amphibians were hit by motorists in Orono, at the state’s most ecologically diverse migration site, Big Night worked with city officials to secure a grant for cameras and fencing that guide the animals toward an existing culvert beneath the road. When the group also saw rising numbers with edema linked to road salt runoff, it pushed for alternative deicing methods, including pickle juice."

According to Benninghoff, "Good data does more than help amphibian advocates win protections. It ensures conservationists spend limited resources where they’ll do the most good." The animals are crucial to New England's ecosystem, sustaining a wide range of larger animals.