Aquatic Habitats and Communities
Science Center Objects
The Pacific Northwest includes a patchwork of public lands managed by numerous state and federal agencies. Our research informs and supports these agencies as they conserve and manage native amphibian species, including pre- and post-treatment assessment, decision support, long-term monitoring, population translocation, and habitat restoration.
Many of the systems we work in have altered hydrological regimes, so a focus of our research is understanding native species relationships with timing and amount of water. Examples are studies of amphibian distribution and abundance relative to different water management scenarios and relationships with active beaver dams.
USGS researchers Brome McCreary (orange vest) and Chris Pearl take measurements on Cascades frog at a mountain lake in Oregon.
(Credit: Stephanie Galvan, USGS. Public domain.)
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Date published: September 20, 2017Status: ActiveHerpetological Research Team (FRESC)
The Herpetological Research Team focuses on issues related to conservation and management of amphibians and other aquatic and semi-aquatic species. Among our current studies are effects of invasive species, disease, and land use change on the dynamics of amphibian communities to inform conservation and management decision making.
Contacts: Michael J Adams, Christopher A Pearl
Conservation research across scales in a national program: How to be relevant to local management yet general at the same time
Successfully addressing complex conservation problems requires attention to pattern and process at multiple spatial scales. This is challenging from a logistical and organizational perspective. In response to indications of worldwide declines in amphibian populations, the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) of the United States...
Adams, Michael J.; Muths, Erin L. Disentangling effects of invasive species and habitat while accounting for observer error in a long-term amphibian study
The invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) and a variety of non‐native sport fish commonly co‐occur in lowland lentic habitats of the western United States. Both invasive taxa are implicated in declines of native amphibians in this region, but few long‐term studies of communities exist. Further, field studies of invasive–native...
Rowe, Jennifer; Duarte, Adam; Pearl, Christopher; McCreary, Brome; Galvan, Stephanie; Peterson, James T.; Adams, Michael J. Compounding effects of climate change reduce population viability of a montane amphibian
Anthropogenic climate change presents challenges and opportunities to the growth, reproduction, and survival of individuals throughout their life cycles. Demographic compensation among life‐history stages has the potential to buffer populations from decline, but alternatively, compounding negative effects can lead to accelerated population decline...
Kissel, Amanda M.; Palen, Wendy J.; Ryan, Maureen E.; Adams, Michael J. Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities
Changing climate will impact species’ ranges only when environmental variability directly impacts the demography of local populations. However, measurement of demographic responses to climate change has largely been limited to single species and locations. Here we show that amphibian communities are responsive to climatic variability, using >...
Miller, David A.W.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Muths, Erin L.; Amburgey, Staci M.; Adams, M.J.; Joseph, Maxwell B.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Johnson, Pieter T.J.; Ryan, Maureen E.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Calhoun, Daniel L.; Davis, Courtney L.; Fisher, Robert N.; Green, David M.; Hossack, Blake R.; Rittenhouse, Tracy A.G.; Walls, Susan C.; Bailey, Larissa L.; Cruickshank, Sam S.; Fellers, Gary M.; Gorman, Thomas A.; Haas, Carola A.; Hughson, Ward; Pilliod, David S.; Price, Steven J.; Ray, Andrew M.; Sadinski, Walter; Saenz, Daniel; Barichivich, William J.; Brand, Adrianne B.; Brehme, Cheryl S.; Dagit, Rosi; Delaney, Katy S.; Glorioso, Brad M.; Kats, Lee B.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Pearl, Christopher; Rochester, Carlton J.; Riley, Seth P. D.; Roth, Mark F.; Sigafus, Brent Effect of cattle exclosures on Columbia Spotted Frog abundance
Livestock grazing is an important land use in the western USA and can have positive or negative effects on amphibians. Columbia Spotted Frog (Rana luteiventris) often use ponds that provide water for cattle. We conducted a long-term manipulative study on US Forest Service land in northeastern Oregon to determine the effects of full and partial...
Adams, M.J.; Pearl, Christopher; Chambert, Thierry; McCreary, Brome; Galvan, Stephanie; Rowe, Jennifer Heterogeneous responses of temperate-zone amphibian populations to climate change complicates conservation planning
The pervasive and unabated nature of global amphibian declines suggests common demographic responses to a given driver, and quantification of major drivers and responses could inform broad-scale conservation actions. We explored the influence of climate on demographic parameters (i.e., changes in the probabilities of survival and recruitment)...
Muths, Erin L.; Chambert, Thierry A.; Schmidt, B. R.; Miller, D. A. W.; Hossack, Blake R.; Joly, P.; Grolet, O.; Green, D. M.; Pilliod, David S.; Cheylan, M.; Fisher, Robert N.; McCaffery, R. M.; Adams, M. J.; Palen, W. J.; Arntzen, J. W.; Garwood, J.; Fellers, Gary M.; Thirion, J. M.; Grant, Evan H. Campbell; Besnard, A. Inference of timber harvest effects on survival of stream amphibians is complicated by movement
The effects of contemporary logging practices on headwater stream amphibians have received considerable study but with conflicting or ambiguous results. We posit that focusing inference on demographic rates of aquatic life stages may help refine understanding, as aquatic and terrestrial impacts may differ considerably. We investigated in-stream...
Chelgren, Nathan; Adams, M.J. A new parameterization for integrated population models to document amphibian reintroductions
Managers are increasingly implementing reintroduction programs as part of a global effort to alleviate amphibian declines. Given uncertainty in factors affecting populations and a need to make recurring decisions to achieve objectives, adaptive management is a useful component of these efforts. A major impediment to the estimation of demographic...
Duarte, Adam; Pearl, Christopher; Adams, M.J.; Peterson, James
Herpetological monitoring and assessment on the Trinity River, Trinity County, California—Final report
The primary goal of the Trinity River Restoration Program is to rehabilitate the fisheries on the dam-controlled Trinity River. However, maintaining and enhancing other wildlife populations through the restoration initiative is also a key objective. Foothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii) and western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) have been...
Snover, Melissa L.; Adams, M.J. Quantitative evidence for the effects of multiple drivers on continental-scale amphibian declines
Since amphibian declines were first proposed as a global phenomenon over a quarter century ago, the conservation community has made little progress in halting or reversing these trends. The early search for a “smoking gun” was replaced with the expectation that declines are caused by multiple drivers. While field observations and...
Grant, Evan H. Campbell; Miller, David A. W.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Adams, M.J.; Amburgey, Staci M.; Chambert, Thierry A.; Cruickshank, Sam S.; Fisher, Robert N.; Green, David M.; Hossack, Blake R.; Johnson, Pieter T.J.; Joseph, Maxwell B.; Rittenhouse, Tracy A. G.; Ryan, Maureen E.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Walls, Susan C.; Bailey, Larissa L.; Fellers, Gary M.; Gorman, Thomas A.; Ray, Andrew M.; Pilliod, David S.; Price, Steven J.; Saenz, Daniel; Sadinski, Walt; Muths, Erin L. Spatial variation in risk and consequence of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans introduction in the USA
A newly identified fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), is responsible for mass mortality events and severe population declines in European salamanders. The eastern USA has the highest diversity of salamanders in the world and the introduction of this pathogen is likely to be devastating. Although data are...
Richgels, Katherine L. D.; Russell, Robin E.; Adams, M.J.; White, C. LeAnn; Campbell Grant, Evan H. Evidence of counter-gradient growth in western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) across thermal gradients
Counter-gradient growth, where growth per unit temperature increases as temperature decreases, can reduce the variation in ectothermic growth rates across environmental gradients. Understanding how ectothermic species respond to changing temperatures is essential to their conservation and management due to human-altered habitats and changing...
Snover, Melissa; Adams, M.J.; Ashton, Donald T.; Bettaso, Jamie B.; Welsh, Hartwell H.-
Date published: October 20, 2020North Coast and Cascades Network consolidated amphibian database (1984-2005)
This data set is an amalgamation of twenty-nine original data sets, which represent amphibian surveys in the seven national parks comprising the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) of the National Park Service. The data were collected from 1984-2005, and include the localities of 19 species of amphibians at various life stages, 18 native to the Pacific Northwest and one invasive spe
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: March 4, 2020
Annotated bibliography of grazing effects on amphibians and their habitats
This database contains literature citations and associated summaries pertaining to livestock grazing effects on amphibians and their habitats, with an emphasis on the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) and other listed/sensitive wetland-breeding amphibians in the western United States. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, nor did we perform a systematic meta-analysis; rather%2
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Trask Watershed Study Amphibian Survival and Movement Data, 2008-2015
This data set contains mark-recapture information for individuals of Dicamptodon tenebrosus and Ascaphus truei marked for individual recognition. Amphibians represented in this data set were captured in 14 first-order perennial and seasonally intermittent streams in the East Fork of the South Fork of the Trask River in the northern Oregon Coast Range. Individuals are larval and mature aquatic...
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog (Rana boylii) Monitoring and Assessment Data from the Trinity River, California (2013-2017)
A key objective of the Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) is maintaining and enhancing other wildlife populations through the restoration initiatives. For herpetological species, the foothill yellow-legged frog and western pond turtle have been identified as important species on which to focus monitoring efforts due to their status as California state-listed Species of Concern. As a r...
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata) Monitoring and Assessment Data from the Trinity River, California (2013-2017)
A key objective of the Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) is maintaining and enhancing other wildlife populations through the restoration initiatives. For herpetological species, the foothill yellow-legged frog and western pond turtle have been identified as important species on which to focus monitoring efforts due to their status as California state-listed Species of Concern. As a r...
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Long-term amphibian monitoring data from the Willamette Valley, Oregon (2004-2015)
This dataset contains information from surveys conducted 2004-2015 by USGS as part of a long-term amphibian monitoring effort in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Data consist of site, survey, habitat, and species detection covariates.
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Terrestrial salamander captures after the 2003 Clark Fire, Willamette National Forest, OR
Data are the result of fixed-area, time-constrained searches for terrestrial salamanders within and nearby a wildfire-affected area of the Willamette National Forest, OR. The spatial extent of the study was within one kilometer of the border of the Clark fire that burned an area of 2,009 ha in 2003. Site surveys occurred during March and April, 2005. An important feature of the data is th
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2018
Columbia Spotted Frog (Rana luteiventris) Breeding at Grazing Exclosures in Eastern Oregon 2002-2010 and 2013
We studied the short-term effects of full and partial livestock grazing exclosures on Columbia Spotted Frog (CSF; Rana luteiventris) populations using a controlled manipulative field experiment with pre- and post-treatment data. This dataset includes vegetation data collected 2002-2010 and 2013 at 94 lakes and ponds in and around the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon. Data collection followe...
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2018
Telemetry and habitat data for Oregon spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) in Oregon, USA
We used radio-telemetry to study late-season movement and habitat use by the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) at 9 sites from 4 populations along the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. This dataset includes individual frog morphometrics, location data, and habitat use during each tracking event that occurred roughly weekly between September and January of 2011, 2012, and 2016.
Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center