Herpetologist Brad Hollingsworth collects audio from a pond in the Santa Rosa Plateau using a small recording device.
He retrieves an 18-hour memory card filled with sounds from birds, coyotes, and tree frogs.
Hollingsworth analyzes the recordings with AI and confirms the red-legged frogs thrive while invasive bullfrogs remain absent.
Red-Legged Frogs Face Decline
Red-legged frogs, measuring 2 to 5 inches, once thrived along the California coast and Baja California.
Gold Rush hunters and introduced bullfrogs decimated their population.
Drought, development, and habitat loss further reduced their numbers, erasing 95% of their historical range in Southern California.
Cross-Border Conservation Efforts
In 2006, scientists discovered a small frog population in Baja California.
Anny Peralta, inspired by the discovery, co-founded Fauna del Noroeste to restore the species.
They built ponds to increase frog numbers and later transported eggs across the U.S. border after COVID-19 delays.
Frogs Successfully Reproduce
Hollingsworth used AI to monitor ponds and detected the red-legged frog’s breeding calls in January.
By March, he found the first egg mass from frogs reintroduced from Mexico, confirming natural reproduction.
AI Supports Conservation
Conservationists increasingly use AI to track endangered animals, breeding, and ecosystem health.
Herpetologists apply AI to analyze soundscapes, study amphibian behavior, and monitor reintroduced species.
AI also helps researchers process tens of thousands of audio files from institutions worldwide.
