Download or read book Dispersal Ecology of Pond breeding Amphibians written by Christin M. Mcdonough-Haughey and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians written by Kentwood D. Wells and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-02-15 with total page 1162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consisting of more than six thousand species, amphibians are more diverse than mammals and are found on every continent save Antarctica. Despite the abundance and diversity of these animals, many aspects of the biology of amphibians remain unstudied or misunderstood. The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians aims to fill this gap in the literature on this remarkable taxon. It is a celebration of the diversity of amphibian life and the ecological and behavioral adaptations that have made it a successful component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Synthesizing seventy years of research on amphibian biology, Kentwood D. Wells addresses all major areas of inquiry, including phylogeny, classification, and morphology; aspects of physiological ecology such as water and temperature relations, respiration, metabolism, and energetics; movements and orientation; communication and social behavior; reproduction and parental care; ecology and behavior of amphibian larvae and ecological aspects of metamorphosis; ecological impact of predation on amphibian populations and antipredator defenses; and aspects of amphibian community ecology. With an eye towards modern concerns, The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians concludes with a chapter devoted to amphibian conservation. An unprecedented scholarly contribution to amphibian biology, this book is eagerly anticipated among specialists.

Download or read book The Evolutionary Ecology of Pond breeding Amphibians written by Jonathan Lars Richardson and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Dispersal Ecology and Evolution written by Jean Clobert and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-09-27 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now that so many ecosystems face rapid and major environmental change, the ability of species to respond to these changes by dispersing or moving between different patches of habitat can be crucial to ensuring their survival. Understanding dispersal has become key to understanding how populations may persist. Dispersal Ecology and Evolution provides a timely and wide-ranging overview of the fast expanding field of dispersal ecology, incorporating the very latest research. The causes, mechanisms, and consequences of dispersal at the individual, population, species, and community levels are considered. Perspectives and insights are offered from the fields of evolution, behavioural ecology, conservation biology, and genetics. Throughout the book theoretical approaches are combined with empirical data, and care has been taken to include examples from as wide a range of species as possible - both plant and animal.

Download or read book Behavioral and Demographic Responses to Environmental Change in a Pond breeding Amphibian written by Gabriel Maturani Barrile and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding how organisms respond to environmental change is a fundamental challenge in ecology and wildlife management. We studied boreal toads (Anaxyrus boreas boreas) in western Wyoming, USA to investigate behavioral and demographic responses to infectious disease and several forms of habitat change. Boreal toads in this region were challenged with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen implicated in global amphibian declines. Toads experienced changing habitat conditions as the result of cattle grazing and stochastic variability in spring flooding, whereby high snowmelt runoff collapsed beaver dams and destroyed critical breeding habitat. In Chapter 1, we used radio-telemetry to track the habitat choices of adult toads (n = 42) during the summer months of 2016. Boreal toads infected with Bd selected warmer, more open habitats, which were associated with elevated body temperature and the subsequent clearing of infection. In Chapter 2, we used a five-year (2015–2019) mark-recapture dataset to investigate the dispersal of adult toads (n = 1100) between breeding ponds. Boreal toads more often departed from low quality breeding ponds (without successful metamorphosis) and settled in high quality breeding ponds (with successful metamorphosis). Movement decisions were context-dependent and associated with pond characteristics altered by beaver dam destruction. In Chapter 3, we used our mark-recapture dataset to explore the interplay between disease, livestock grazing, climatic variation, and annual survival of adult boreal toads (n = 1301) during 2015–2019. Cattle grazing generated conditions less conducive to Bd growth by reducing vegetation cover and creating warmer microclimates. Higher winter snowpack resulted in shorter spring breeding seasons, which were associated with lower Bd prevalence. Boreal toads infected with Bd suffered increased mortality, but only when temperatures during summer months were relatively cool. In Chapter 4, we examined the potential effects of livestock grazing and pond characteristics on tadpole survival across 20 breeding sites during May–September 2018. Cattle grazing reduced vegetation cover in and around breeding ponds, which may negatively influence metamorphosis by decreasing feeding sites and escape cover for tadpoles and/or increasing exposure to harmful UV radiation. Overall, our results suggest that disease is an important selective agent on animal habitat and space use, whereby some wild animals can proximately modify habitat choices in response to infection status. This behavioral tactic may only be effective at higher temperatures, however, suggesting that individuals at cooler, higher elevations face increased risk of disease-induced mortality compared to conspecifics at warmer, lower elevations. We demonstrate that some animals respond to stochastic variation in habitat quality via adaptive breeding dispersal. Creating new suitable environments (e.g., facilitating beaver activity in our system) and increasing the structural connectivity among patches will be important conservation tools for enabling dispersal to higher quality habitats. We further show that the effects of climatic variation can manifest via altered season lengths that influence ecological interactions such as host-pathogen dynamics. Future investigations of wildlife responses to disease therefore may benefit from considering the indirect effect of weather on host phenology. Finally, we demonstrate that vital rates across a species’ life cycle can be shaped by different extrinsic stressors, such that careful study of multiple stressors across several life-stages provides a more complete understanding of overall population effects and can help target conservation actions.

Download or read book Dispersal in the Natterjack Toad a Species with a Fragmented Distribution written by Virginie Stevens and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Density dependence and Dispersal Mechanisms in a Pond Breeding Amphibian written by Katharine Yagi and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this thesis, I attempt to quantify the effect of density on toad dispersal in a series of steps that coincide with the amphibian's notable life stages, which are outlined by the five chapters of my thesis. Chapter 2 examines the direct effect of density on tadpole survival, growth and size at metamorphosis using a unique technique of density manipulation. I discuss potential downfalls of the traditional method of tadpole density-manipulations whereby raising them in crowded conditions might confound results as tadpoles are known to respond differently to chemical cues left in the water by conspecifics. My method of manipulating density by volume resulted in a strong negative relationship with tadpole survival, growth and size at metamorphosis, as predicted, while the traditional method showed similar but less striking trends. Chapter 3 addresses whether carry-over effects are present in the new metamorphs (i.e. toadlets) that emerge from a range of density treatments, by monitoring changes in behaviour between the tadpole and toadlet life stages. I discovered a significant change in activity levels in those grown under high densities as tadpoles, where their small post-metamorph body size coincided with a notable decrease in activity. My results support the concept of density-dependent carry-over effects being present in these amphibians, and that their post-metamorphic mobility may be impacted by their early-life growth conditions. Chapter 4 examines the behavioural plasticity of tadpoles under these effects using a controlled factorial experiment. My results showed that larger sized tadpoles had high activity levels under all temperature regimes only when they came from high density treatments. This suggests that the size of the animal is important, as it becomes relevant under more stressful conditions and that the behavioural plasticity of tadpoles is governed by an interaction among individual body size, water temperature and density. Chapter 5 follows the size-dependent movement capabilities of individual toadlets from density-treatments in a controlled performance test, and their subsequent free-ranging movement behaviour in the field. I discovered that the body size of toadlets predicted dispersal in a quadratic relationship, where intermediate sized toads, regardless of their tadpole density, move greater distances and had the highest probability for dispersal. Interestingly, these intermediate-sized toads became the largest in their cohort as adults, resulting in a positive logistic relationship between adult size and dispersal probability. Chapter 6 uses the information gathered for size-dependent dispersal probabilities, and calculates the populations density-dependent dispersal rates using historical data, to inform model simulations to predict the extinction risk of this Fowler's toad population. I discovered that this population has a quadratic relationship between dispersal probability and population density, where very low and very high densities coincided with the highest dispersal rates. Additionally, I was able to predict a low extinction risk for the population if carrying capacity was kept at a minimum of 16 toads, however if continuous habitat management, which translates into continuous habitat disturbances, were to be employed on a short 7-year cycle, extinction risk could be as high as 78%.Human activities, including fragmentation and restoration, continue to impact the animals living in the surrounding environment. As dispersal is a key process that can save many populations from local extinctions it is important to understand how movement is restricted on a species-specific level. My thesis provides a detailed examination of density-dependence and movement capabilities across multiple life stages in a pond breeding amphibian and advances our understanding of how density itself can impact dispersal under different mechanisms." --

Download or read book Movement Ecology of Juvenile Pond breeding Amphibians in Western Massachusetts written by Brad C. Timm and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Amphibian Ecology and Conservation written by C. Kenneth Dodd and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the latest methodologies used to study the ecology of amphibians throughout the world. Each of the 27 chapters explains a research approach or technique, with emphasis on careful planning and the potential biases of techniques. Statistical modelling, landscape ecology, and disease are covered for the first time in a techniques handbook.

Download or read book Reproductive and Spatial Ecology of a Pond breeding Amphibian Community written by Michelle Lynn Guidugli and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many amphibian species the temporal and spatial patterns of migration are poorly understood. To better understand these processes, an ephemeral pond-breeding amphibian community was studied at Central Kentucky Wildlife Management Area, Madison County, Kentucky. The study pond was completely encircled using a drift fence-pitfall trap array and checked continually from January to October 2009. Meteorological variables including rainfall and air temperature and the habitat variable distance to forest edge were measured to determine their influence on amphibian migrations. Several amphibians including Rana catesbeiana (American Bullfrog), Ambystoma jeffersonianum (Jefferson's salamander), and A. maculatum (Spotted Salamander) inhabited this pond; however, A. jeffersonianum and A.maculatum were dominant in their abundance and length of time they occupied the pond for breeding. Breeding migrations for A.maculatum and A. jeffersonianum were correlated with variables such as daily cumulative precipitation and mean air temperature; however cumulative precipitation was not correlated with existing migrations for these species. Movements to the pond were non-randomly oriented for A. jeffersonianum and A.maculatum and non-randomly oriented away from the pond for A.maculatum. Both migrations were positively correlated with distance to forest edge for A.maculatum and A. jeffersonianum; however, the strongest association was found for A.maculatum exiting migrations. These results exemplify how closely movements of amphibian species are linked to their environment. Amphibian populations are declining due to habitat destruction and fragmentation; therefore, this understanding of when and where different aspects of their habitat are used will aid in future conservation and land management.

Download or read book Ecology and Conservation of Amphibians written by Trevor Beebee and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1996-03-31 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume sets out to provide an overview of recent research on all aspects of amphibian ecology and behaviour and to illustrate its application to practical conservation measures for this major group of animals. Its broad scope makes it of relevance to students of general biology, ecology and conservation, but also to professionals in industries and agencies involved with environmental issues and nature conservation.

Download or read book The Natterjack Toad written by Trevor John Clark Beebee and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Suburbanization and Amphibians written by Alexander Jacob Felson and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regulations guiding land development around seasonal isolated wetlands disregard habitat requirements for specialized faunal inhabitants. This oversight needs to be addressed at multiple scales in order to sustain future seasonal pond inhabitants. In particular, pool-breeding amphibians are suffering worldwide decline and are susceptible to water quality, temperature, hydrology and watershed impacts. The complex aquatic-terrestrial lifecycle of amphibians makes them sensitive to terrestrial habitat alterations and fragmentation. The temporal variation in hydroperiod within individual ponds and variation in hydrology across ponds within a landscape create a stochastic system. In these systems amphibian populations likely function as metapopulations, and rely on juvenile dispersal and rescue effects to counter local extinction. Given the limited regulations at the local, state and federal level, maintaining amphibian breeding populations will require efforts at the pond, migration corridor, upland habitat, watersheds and regional connectivity levels. Addressing these gaps requires further basic research to expose hidden aspects of amphibian lifecycle patterns, in part due to their fossorial nature as well as the challenges of interpreting metapopulation connectivity. Addressing the gaps also requires translating the ecological requirements into preservation tactics within the pressures of land development, which poses substantial challenges. I utilized designed experiments, which serve as a hybrid research and planning approach, to navigate these complex circumstances. Here, I present a series of large-scale field experiments situated within a 500-hectare privately owned suburban development project located in Tuxedo, New York. The field experiments were implemented as part of the masterplanning process with the aim of exposing and addressing several of these regulatory gaps from both a basic science and applied solutions perspective. A series of drift fence and pit-fall trap experiments provides data at the scale of individual breeding populations and their migration patterns to and from ponds. Larval density studies utilizing replicate enclosures evaluate the impact of within pond density versus variability of habitat quality across ponds. This analysis provides a bioassay of species performance teasing apart the presumed dominant effect of density versus variation across ponds. The results of this study indicate that physical and biotic pond scale factors have a far greater effect on survival and fecundity than density. These results differ from the environmental consultant's evaluation of the same ponds and call into question the current rapid assessment of pond habitat.

Download or read book Pond Conservation in Europe written by Beat Oertli and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-09-24 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ponds are an exceptional freshwater resource around the world and represent thirty percent of the global surface area of standing water. Furthermore, the millions of ponds which exist exhibit a particularly high biodiversity and have a high potential for ecosystem functions and services. Despite these impressive features, ponds face many threats from a variety of human activities and receive little or no protection under European and national legislation. Consequently, there is an urgent need to protect, consolidate and increase the pond resource in Europe. In order to achieve these objectives, the European Pond Conservation Network (EPCN) was launched 2004 in Geneva. Its aim is to promote the awareness, understanding and conservation of these small water bodies in the European landscape. This volume of “Developments in Hydrobiology” presents a selection of 31 papers presented during EPCN conferences held in 2006 in France (Toulouse) and in 2008 in Spain (Valencia). They represent a diverse collection of themes from across the continent and North Africa and present new and original insights into topics as wide ranging as pond biodiversity; human disturbance; landscape ecology; ecological assessment and monitoring; practical management measures; ecological restoration; hydrology and climate change; invasive species and threatened species.

Download or read book Demography Migration and Metapopulation Structure of Pond Breeding Salamanders written by Peter Cornell Jr Trenham and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Amphibian and Reptile Road Ecology written by Cheryl S. Brehme and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2024-05-21 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roads may threaten the persistence of wildlife populations by acting as barriers to movement and/or sources of increased mortality across the landscape. Amphibians and reptiles have been identified as being particularly susceptible to negative road impacts. Many species migrate annually among habitats to support basic life history requirements such as breeding, development, foraging, and overwintering. For these species, individuals may need to successfully cross roads multiple times each year for the population to persist. Many are slow-moving and freeze in the presence of danger, making it almost impossible for them to avoid oncoming vehicles. Although there are a plethora of road mortality location and count data, the effects of road mortality on the long-term viability of amphibian and reptile populations and metapopulations are mostly unknown due to a lack of information on their abundance, vital rates, behavior, and spatial and temporal dynamics.

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Landscape Ecology written by Robert A. Francis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-09 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook provides a supporting guide to key aspects and applications of landscape ecology to underpin its research and teaching. A wide range of contributions written by expert researchers in the field summarize the latest knowledge on landscape ecology theory and concepts, landscape processes, methods and tools, and emerging frontiers. Landscape ecology is an interdisciplinary and holistic discipline, and this is reflected in the chapters contained in this Handbook. Authors from varying disciplinary backgrounds tackle key concepts such as landscape structure and function, scale and connectivity; landscape processes such as disturbance, flows, and fragmentation; methods such as remote sensing and mapping, fieldwork, pattern analysis, modelling, and participation and engagement in landscape planning; and emerging frontiers such as ecosystem services, landscape approaches to biodiversity conservation, and climate change. Each chapter provides a blend of the latest scientific understanding of its focal topics along with considerations and examples of their application from around the world. An invaluable guide to the concepts, methods, and applications of landscape ecology, this book will be an important reference text for a wide range of students and academics in ecology, geography, biology, and interdisciplinary environmental studies.