Climate change is causing amphibian populations around the world to decline at even higher rates, scientists say

A major class of vertebrate species is experiencing widespread population declines due to climate change, according to new research. Amphibians, the most threatened class of vertebrates, are deteriorating globally, with about 40% of more than 8,000 amphibian species studied categorized as threatened — a greater percentage than threatened mammals, reptiles or birds, a paper published in Nature on Wednesday suggests. Habitat loss due to agricultural expansion, timber and plant harvesting and infrastructure development is the most common threat, affecting about 93% of threatened amphibian species, Jennifer Luedtke, manager of species partnerships for conservation nonprofit Re:wild and the global coordinator for the Amphibian Red List Authority for the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Amphibian Specialist Group, told reporters during a news conference.