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Relative Fitness And Behavioral Compensation Of Amphibians In A Managed Forest, Sean Michael Blomquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Habitat loss and degradation are two of the most important factors leading to the imperilment of species worldwide including amphibians, but mechanisms underlying these changes are poorly understood. To understand the fitness potential of harvested forests, I conducted studies of a forest specialist, Rana sylvatica (Wood Frogs) and compared these results with those from identical studies with an open canopy specialist, R. pipiens (Northern Leopard Frogs) in response to an unharvested control and three forest harvesting treatments: clearcutting (with removal of all merchantable timber > 10 cm diameter), clearcutting with coarse woody debris retention, and partial harvesting with removal of < 25% canopy cover. First, I used radio-telemetry data collected on 72 adult R. …