Current research on saving the boreal toad in Colorado is the subject of the next Central Colorado Humanists Science Sunday program at 10 a.m., May 2.
Boreal toads are a high elevation amphibian species once common across the mountains of Colorado. The last few decades have seen a precipitous decline in boreal toad populations all over the southern rocky mountains, mainly due to a recently emerged fungal pathogen, sometimes called the Chytrid fungus.
Years ago, portions of Chaffee County were found to be Chytrid-free; wetland breeding areas around Cottonwood Lake and Creek in Chaffee County were found to be unaffected by the parasitic fungus. That changed when the pathogen was discovered during later surveys.