Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

20 Jun, 05 AM - 01 Oct, 05 AM

Already heavily fragmented by introduced fish predators, Mountain yellow-legged frogs populations continue to decline because of the spread of the amphibian chytrid fungus. Lakes throughout the Sierra Nevada have quickly fallen silent and still as frogs and tadpoles no longer crowd the shorelines. Frogs and tadpoles are consumers on two trophic levels in benthic, littoral, and terrestrial habitats, and are linked to many other organisms in the lake communities. Tadpoles may have top-down and bottom-up influences on algal communities, and the presence of frogs may be positively related to invertebrate diversity. In 2012, I will investigate the response of alpine lake algae and invertebrate communities to local extinctions of Mountain yellow-legged frogs. My large scale survey will include the handful of lakes which contain extant frog populations in Sequoia/King's Canyon and Yosemite National Parks and the John Muir Wilderness, paired with nearby lakes where the amphibian chytrid fungus extirpated frog populations. I will quantify the abundance and diversity of algae and invertebrates.

Visit #27356 @Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

Approved

Under Project # 24845 | Research

Do Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs Matter? The impact of amphibian declines on Sierra Nevada lake communities

research_scientist - University of California, Santa Barbara

Reservation Members(s)

Thomas C. Smith Jun 20 - Oct 1, 2012 (104 days)
Thomas C. Smith Jun 20 - Oct 1, 2012 (104 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice