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 from four populations along the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. Movement rates declined with date and were the lowest at the end of tracking in December and January. Frogs across our sites used vegetated shallows in late summer and early fall. In fall, frogs used a range of habitat types, and at several sites moved to distinctive habitats such as springs, interstices in lava rock, and semi-terrestrial beaver channels. Distance between first and last tracking location was <250 m for 84.5% (49/58) of frogs, ranged up to 1145 m, and was greater for frogs in ditch habitats than those not in ditches. Distinctive features like springs or semi-terrestrial retreats can host multiple frogs and may represent particularly valuable wintering habitat for R. pretiosa in some sites in their Oregon range.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Title | Late-season movement and habitat use by Oregon spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) in Oregon, USA |
| DOI | 10.1643/CH-18-031 |
| Authors | Christopher Pearl, Brome McCreary, Jennifer Rowe, M. J. Adams |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Copeia |
| Index ID | 70199792 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center |
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Christopher A Pearl
Wildlife Biologist
Brome McCreary
Wildlife Biologist
Jennifer Rowe
Wildlife Biologist
Michael J Adams
Supervisory Research Ecologist
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Christopher A Pearl
Wildlife BiologistPhoneBrome McCreary
Wildlife BiologistEmailPhoneJennifer Rowe
Wildlife BiologistEmailPhoneMichael J Adams
Supervisory Research EcologistEmailPhone