Recording other data
Most census methods involved handling and keeping animals, if only briefly, and this provides a
good opportunity to collect data that may be very valuable in studies of the long-term viability of
amphibian populations in the face of decline. These include assessing female reproductive status
(Reyer & B¨attig 2004); measuring fluctuating asymmetry (McCoy & Harris 2003); recording
deformities of the limbs (Ouellet 2000); and screening for the infectious disease chytridiomycosis
(Briggs&Burgin 2003). Infectious diseases are a major cause of declines in amphibian populations
throughout the world and, to prevent transmission of diseases between amphibian populations, it
is important that anyone carrying out a census observes the DAPTF Fieldwork Code of Practice