Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Opportunities And Constraints Of Sierra Nevada Meadow Restoration For The Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog Species Complex, Allie E. Sennett

Master's Projects and Capstones

Amphibian populations worldwide are experiencing precipitous declines as a result of disease, introduced species, habitat loss, and climate change. The mountain yellow-legged frog (MYLF), once considered the most abundant vertebrate in the Sierra Nevada, has suffered dramatic population declines in recent decades, and implications of their decline include biodiversity impacts throughout this region. Specifically, the distribution of MYLF has severely contracted within their geographic range, with an obvious shift in overall abundance to sites toward the upper reaches of their elevation range. MYLF occupying high-elevation habitats (i.e., lakes and ponds) must overwinter for especially prolonged periods, which decreases their ability …