Herpetological Research Team (FRESC)
Science Center Objects
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.
Many of our projects are supported by the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI). ARMI works with Department of Interior (DOI) and other federal and state agencies to respond to information gaps that are critical to the implementation of effective conservation and management strategies for amphibian communities. ARMI’s work includes research on the status and threats of native species, development and evaluation of quantitative and field methods, and monitoring designs to address conservation and management information needs at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
Principal Investigator
Michael Adams - Supervisory Research Ecologist
Federal Staff
Brome McCreary - Wildlife Biologist
Christopher Pearl - Wildlife Biologist
Jennifer Rowe - Wildlife Biologist
Affiliate
Adam Duarte - Research Ecologist at Oregon State University
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Date published: August 22, 2019Status: ActiveQuantitative and Other Methods
Applying quantitative methods to evaluate ecological hypotheses for wild animal populations is inherently challenging due to the complexity of ecological systems and the sampling process that is used to monitor them.
Contacts: Michael J Adams -
Date published: August 22, 2019Status: ActiveDisease
Disease is a major threat facing amphibian and reptile populations around the world. Our research addresses interactions between pathogens, the environment, and hosts to better understand ways to prevent the spread of disease.
Contacts: Michael J Adams -
Date published: November 13, 2017Status: ActiveOregon Spotted Frog
The Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) is a medium-sized anuran native to the northwestern United States. Body coloration ranges from brown or tan to brick red, usually overlaid with dark, ragged spots. Oregon spotted frogs can be distinguished from other native species by their relatively short hind legs, orange or red wash of color on underside of abdomen and legs, and upturned...
Contacts: Michael J Adams -
Date published: November 13, 2017Status: ActiveAquatic Habitats and Communities
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.
Contacts: Michael J Adams -
Date published: November 6, 2017Status: ActiveDeclining Amphibians
Amphibian populations world-wide are declining for reasons that include disease, habitat loss, and invasive species. Our research addresses these threats as part of the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI), a nationwide, federally funded program. We work with resource managers to provide information that improves understanding of status of amphibians and the implications of...
Contacts: Michael J Adams -
Date published: November 6, 2017Status: ActiveAquatic Invasive Species
Aquatic invasive species, like bullfrogs, stocked fish, crayfish, and reed canarygrass can affect aquatic systems in a variety of ways and have been linked to declines in some amphibians.
Contacts: Michael J Adams
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Year Published: 2017Early action to address an emerging wildlife disease
A deadly fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) that affects amphibian skin was discovered during a die-off of European fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) in 2014. This pathogen has the potential to worsen already severe worldwide amphibian declines. Bsal is a close relative to another fungal disease known as...
Adams, M.J.; Harris, M. Camille; Grear, Daniel A.Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC), National Wildlife Health Center, Ecosystems, Fish & Wildlife DiseaseView CitationAdams, M.J., Harris, M.C., and Grear, D.A., 2017, Early action to address an emerging wildlife disease: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2017-3013, 2 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20173013.
Effect of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) on apparent survival of frogs and toads in the western USA
Despite increasing interest in determining the population-level effects of emerging infectious diseases on wildlife, estimating effects of disease on survival rates remains difficult. Even for a well-studied disease such as amphibian chytridiomycosis (caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]), there are few estimates of...
Russell, Robin E.; Halstead, Brian J.; Mosher, Brittany; Muths, Erin L.; Adams, Michael J.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Fisher, Robert N.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Backlin, Adam R.; Pearl, Christopher; Honeycutt, R. Ken; Hossack, Blake R. 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. 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.
Batrachochytrium salamandriovrans (Bsal) in Appalachia—Using scenario building to proactively prepare for a wildlife disease outbreak caused by an invasive amphibian chytrid fungus
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a pathogenic chytrid fungus, is nonnative to the United States and poses a disease threat to vulnerable amphibian hosts. The Bsal fungus may lead to increases in threatened, endangered, and sensitive status listings at State, Tribal, and Federal levels, resulting in financial costs associated with...
Hopkins, M.C.; Adams, M.J.; Super, P.E.; Olson, D.H.; Hickman, C.R.; English, P.; Sprague, L.; Maska, I.B. ; Pennaz, A.B.; Ludwig, K.A. Identifying management-relevant research priorities for responding to disease-associated amphibian declines
A research priority can be defined as a knowledge gap that, if resolved, identifies the optimal course of conservation action. We (a group of geographically distributed and multidisciplinary research scientists) used tools from nominal group theory and decision analysis to collaboratively identify and prioritize information...
Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Adams, M.J.; Fisher, Robert N.; Grear, Daniel A.; Halstead, Brian J.; Hossack, Blake R.; Muths, Erin L.; Richgels, Katherine L. D.; Russell, Robin E.; Smalling, Kelly L.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Walls, Susan C.; White, C. LeAnn 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 Late-season movement and habitat use by Oregon spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) in Oregon, USA
Many amphibians use multiple habitats across seasons. Information on seasonal habitat use, movement between seasonal habitat types, and habitats that may be particularly valuable is important to conservation and management. We used radio-telemetry to study late-season movement and habitat use by Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa) at nine sites...
Pearl, Christopher; Mccreary, Brome; Rowe, Jennifer; Adams, M.J. Regional variation in drivers of connectivity for two frog species (Rana pretiosa and R. luteiventris) from the U.S. Pacific Northwest
Comparative landscape genetics has uncovered high levels of variability in which landscape factors affect connectivity among species and regions. However, the relative importance of species traits versus environmental variation for predicting landscape patterns of connectivity is unresolved. We provide evidence from a landscape genetics study of...
Robertson, Jeanne M.; Murphy, Melanie A.; Pearl, Christopher; Adams, M.J.; Paez-Vacas, Monica I.; Haig, Susan M.; Pilliod, David S.; Storfer, Andrew; Funk, W. Chris Fitting N-mixture models to count data with unmodeled heterogeneity: Bias, diagnostics, and alternative approaches
Monitoring animal populations is central to wildlife and fisheries management, and the use of N-mixture models toward these efforts has markedly increased in recent years. Nevertheless, relatively little work has evaluated estimator performance when basic assumptions are violated. Moreover, diagnostics to identify when bias in parameter estimates...
Duarte, Adam; Adams, M.J.; Peterson, James 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 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-
Date published: January 1, 2020Annotated 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
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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
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Date published: January 1, 2019
Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) observations in Oregon, 2016-2018
This dataset contains information from surveys conducted 2016-2018 by USGS as part of an ongoing Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) monitoring effort in Oregon. USGS research activities in 2016, 2017, and 2018 were divided into six study design categories: breeding (egg mass counts), mid-level (visual encounter surveys for occupancy monitoring), apex (mark-recapture),
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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.
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Date published: January 1, 2018
Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa) Monitoring at Jack Creek 2015-2018
This dataset contains information from mark-recapture and egg mass surveys conducted 2015-2018 by USGS as part of an ongoing Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) monitoring effort at Jack Creek, Klamath County, Oregon. Data consist of spotted frog counts (handled by surveyors) aggregated by date, location, life stage, and sex, as well as data on environmental conditions at the
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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.
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Date published: January 1, 2018
Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa) Monitoring at Jack Creek 2015-2017
This dataset contains information from mark-recapture and egg mass surveys conducted 2015-2017 by USGS as part of an ongoing Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) monitoring effort at Jack Creek, Klamath County, Oregon. Data consist of spotted frog counts (handled by surveyors) aggregated by date, location, life stage, and sex, as well as data on environmental conditions at the
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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...
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Date published: May 6, 2020ARMI Scientist Michael Adams Receives 2020 PARC Honor
Dr. Michael Adams, Lead for the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) and Supervisory Research Ecologist at the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, has been selected to receive the 2020 Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) Alison Haskell Award for Excellence in Herpetofaunal Conservation...
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Date published: March 13, 2020Annotated Bibliography: Grazing Effects on Amphibians and Their Habitats
Livestock grazing is one of the most common land uses in the western United States, where multiple amphibians of conservation concern use habitats that are grazed.
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Date published: January 20, 2016Invasive Amphibian Fungus Could Threaten US Salamander Populations
A deadly fungus causing population crashes in wild European salamanders could emerge in the United States and threaten already declining amphibians here, according to a report released today by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Attribution: Core Science Systems, National Wildlife Health Center