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Amphibians are vertebrate members of the taxonomic class Amphibia including animals such as frogs and toads of the taxonomic order Anura, salamanders and other tailed amphibians of the order Caudata, and caecilians, which inhabit tropical latitudes. Amphibians are generally small with thin, selectively permeable skin, which they rely upon to allow water and air to pass through. Many amphibian species have an aquatic larval (tadpole) form that changes through metamorphosis into an adult form that lives on land.

Amphibians in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee

The Southeastern United States has the largest populations of frogs and salamanders in the nation. Amphibian diversity in the Appalachians is highlighted by an abundance of salamanders, especially plethodontids, a group of lungless salamanders.

In Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee, amphibian species diversity numbers as follows: in Alabama, there are 69 amphibian species with 2 endemic species; in Tennessee, there are 68 amphibian species with 11 endemic species; in Mississippi, there are 57 species with one endemic species; in Kentucky, there are 55 species with no endemic species (Stein, Kutner, & Adams, 2000).

NBII-SAIN Amphibian Resources

• View a list of regional amphibian species
• For information about amphibians in need of conservation appearing on regional state Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategies, click "Amphibian Species in Need of Conservation" on navigation menu at left.
• For additional Web resources about amphibians in Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee, refer to the NBII catalog query for amphibians on the "Amphibian Web Resources" page listed on the navigation menu.
• For further information about frogs and toads of the region, click "Frogs and Toads (order Anura)" on the navigation menu.

For a list of regional amphibian species and to view literature cited, click "more..." below.

Schoolyard Amphibian Conservation

In addition to protecting streams and rivers from pollution by catching and filtering storm runoff, wetlands benefit amphibian conservation by providing breeding habitat. Recognizing their value as outdoor learning environments, several schools in the SAIN region have created wetlands to connect students to natural world.

One regional schoolyard wetland offering students the opportunity to observe and study amphibians in their natural setting is Project NEW, the Norris Elementary Wetland in Anderson County, Tennessee, which has received several high-profile grants for outdoor education. The goal is to allow students to conduct research about organisms in the NEW habitat and to investigate the scope of amphibian deformities found locally.

Would your school like to participate in amphibian conservation?

To take part in amphibian conservation and wetland creation, some helpful online guides are available to assist you:

"How To: Build a Vernal Pond" by Outdoor America [Click to Download, PDF Format, 279 KB]

"How To: Vernal Pond Encore" by Thomas R. Biebighauser

"A Guide to Creating Vernal Pools: All the Information You Need to Build and Maintain an Ephemeral Wetland" by Thomas R. Biebighauser [Click to Download, PDF format, 2.9 MB]

For more information about outdoor environmental education in the southeast, including lists of participating schools in Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee, visit www.southeastee.org.