Grantee Research Project Results
Amphibian Dispersal in Fragmented Landscapes
EPA Grant Number: U915537Title: Amphibian Dispersal in Fragmented Landscapes
Investigators: Birchfield, Gayle L.
Institution: University of Missouri - Columbia
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: August 1, 1999 through August 1, 2002
Project Amount: $89,328
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1999) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Fellowship - Ecology
Objective:
In summer and fall 1999, radio tracking was conducted in two populations of green frogs, Rana clamitans, to examine post-breeding movement patterns and locate terrestrial overwintering sites. The first population, located at the Baskett Wildlife Research Area in Boone County, MO, breeds in a manmade pond surrounded by essentially continuous second-growth deciduous forest. The second population is located in a more fragmented landscape at the A. L. Gustin golf course in Columbia, near the University of Missouri campus. Here the breeding pond is isolated from forested land by at least 100 m on all sides. In summer 2000, radio tracking and powdered fluorescent pigments will be used to examine microhabitat use by frogs dispersing to breeding ponds and by frogs displaced in the terrestrial habitat.
Expected Results:
This study will provide basic information about the movement patterns and habitat use of green frogs, which will be helpful in assessing the effects of habitat fragmentation in amphibian populations.
Supplemental Keywords:
animal movement, habitat selection, predation, pond-breeding amphibians, radio tracking, wetland management, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecology, amphibians, Environmental Monitoring, Ecology and Ecosystems, Biology, amphibian dispersal, frogs, habitat selection, animal movement, pond breeding, amphibian bioindicator, radio trackingProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.