Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Collaborative Research: Land-Use Practices And Persistence Of Amphibian Populations, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr.

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Over the past 200 years, conversion of land for agricultural use, industrial development, and urban sprawl has drastically reduced natural habitat for many species and is considered the most serious threat to biological diversity. Fragmentation divides once continuous natural habitats into smaller pieces that are often separated by areas unsuitable to sustain viable populations. The goal of the proposed research is to understand how important local population and metapopulation processes are altered by fragmentation of natural habitats in a model system of pond-breeding amphibians. The primary objectives of the proposed study are to experimentally compare demographic and behavioral responses of …

Reexamination Of Herpetofauna On Mormon Island, Hall County, Nebraska, With Notes On Natural History, Keith Geluso, Mary J. Harner

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

The Platte River in central Nebraska, USA, was historically surrounded by mixed grass and tallgrass prairies and wet meadows, but many of those habitats were lost or altered during the last century with unknown effects on animals that reside in them. Researchers first surveyed herpetofauna on part of a large island preserve in the Platte River, Mormon Island, Hall County, Nebraska, in 1980 when the land was protected for conservation. They documented 10 species, including three species of amphibians and seven species of reptiles. We inventoried herpetofauna after 30 years of conservation management on Mormon Island and adjacent Shoemaker Island. …

Amphibian Occupancy And Functional Connectivity Of Restored Wetlands In The Missouri River Floodplain, Michelle L. Hellman

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wetland decline may threaten many taxa including shorebirds, amphibians, and fish. As agencies increase restoration of wetland habitat, monitoring is crucial to inform the process. Permeable skin sensitive to water quality and biphasic life histories requiring both terrestrial and aquatic habitat make amphibians good indicators of wetland health. I modeled amphibian occupancy in restored Missouri River bends to determine habitat characteristics associated with the presence of amphibians.

Occupancy modeling acknowledges imperfect detection and allows the inclusion of detection covariates. To assess detection I examined two methods currently used to assess anuran occupancy in wetlands, aural anuran surveys and tadpole dip-netting. …

Long-Term Data For Endemic Frog Genera Reveal Potential Conservation Crisis In The Bale Mountains, Ethiopia, David J. Gower, Roman K. Aberra, Silvia Schwaller, Malcolm J. Largen, Ben Collen, Stephen Spawls, Michele Menegon, Breda M. Zimkus, Rafael O. De Sá, Et Al.

Biology Faculty Publications

Populations of many frogs have declined alarmingly in recent years, placing nearly one third of the > 6,000 species under threat of extinction. Declines have been attributed largely to habitat loss, environmental degradation and/or infectious diseases such as chytridiomycosis. Many frogs undergo dramatic natural population fluctuations such that long-term data are required to determine population trends without undue influence of stochastic factors. We present long-term quantitative data (individuals encountered per person hour of searching) for four monotypic frog genera endemic to an Afromontane region of exceptional importance but growing conservation concern: one endemic to the Ethiopian highlands (Spinophrynoides osgoodi) and three …