Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) captures before and after drought mitigation at Jack Creek, Oregon 2009-2021

Amphibians are among the most sensitive taxa to climate change, and species inhabiting arid and semiarid landscapes at the extremes of their range are especially vulnerable to periods of drought. The Jack Creek, Oregon, USA population of Oregon spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) faces unique challenges occupying the highest elevation site in the species’ extant range and one that has been hydrologically transformed by loss of American beaver (Castor canadensis). We evaluated the effect of drought mitigation (addition of excavated ponds) on relationships between local water availability, legacy beaver dams, and R. pretiosa population dynamics in the Jack Creek system. We conducted capture-mark-recapture sampling at a treatment reach with excavated ponds and 3 reference reaches over 13 years; surveys spanned a period before and after pond excavation at the treatment and one reference reach. This dataset contains capture data and covariates used in the robust design capture-mark-recapture analysis to characterize population dynamics, described in Rowe et al. 2023.

Rowe, J.C., Pearl, C.A., Duarte, A., McCreary, B., and Adams, M.J., 2023, Population dynamics of the threatened Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) before and after drought mitigation: Journal of Wildlife Management, in review.