Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI): A successful start to a national program in the United States

Authors

Erin Muths, USGS Fort Collins Science CenterFollow
Robin E. Jung, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Larissa L. Bailey, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Michael J. Adams, USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
P. Stephen Corn, USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
C. Kenneth Dodd Jr., USGS Florida Integrated Science Center
Gary M. Fellers, USGS Western Ecological Research Center
Walter J. Sadinski, USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Cecil R. Schwalbe, USGS Southwest Biological Science Center
Susan C. Walls, USGS National Wetlands Research Center
Robert N. Fisher, USGS Western Ecological Research Center
Alisa L. Gallant, EROS Data Center
William A. Battaglin, USGS Water Resources
D. Earl Green, USGS National Wildlife Health Center

Date of this Version

2005

Comments

Published in Applied Herpetology 2: 355-371, 2005.

Abstract

Most research to assess amphibian declines has focused on local-scale projects on one or a few species. The Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) is a national program in the United States mandated by congressional directive and implemented by the U.S. Department of the Interior (specifically the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS). Program goals are to monitor changes in populations of amphibians across U.S. Department of the Interior lands and to address research questions related to amphibian declines using a hierarchical framework of base-, mid- and apex-level monitoring sites. ARMI is currently monitoring 83 amphibian species (29% of species in the U.S.) at mid- and apex-level areas. We chart the progress of this 5-year-old program and provide an example of mid-level monitoring from 1 of the 7 ARMI regions.