A CONCEPTUAL MODEL TO FACILITATE AMPHIBIAN CONSERVATION IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS

Authors

David M. Mushet, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Ned H. Euliss Jr., U.S. Geological SurveyFollow
Craig A. Stockwell, North Dakota State University - Main CampusFollow

Date of this Version

Spring 2012

Citation

Great Plains Research 22 (Spring 2012):45-58

Comments

2012 Published by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Abstract

As pressures on agricultural landscapes to meet worldwide resource needs increase, amphibian populations face numerous threats including habitat destruction, chemical contaminants, disease outbreaks, wetland sedimentation, and synergistic effects of these perturbations. To facilitate conservation planning, we developed a conceptual model depicting elements critical for amphibian conservation in the northern Great Plains. First, we linked upland, wetland, and landscape features to specific ecological attributes. Ecological attributes included adult survival; reproduction and survival to metamorphosis; and successful dispersal and recolonization. Second, we linked ecosystem drivers, ecosystem stressors, and ecological effects of the region to each ecological attribute. Lastly, we summarized information on these ecological attributes and the drivers, stressors, and effects that work in concert to influence the maintenance of viable and genetically diverse amphibian populations in the northern Great Plains. While our focus was on the northern Great Plains, our conceptual model can be tailored to other geographic regions and taxa.