Spatial ecology of the Cascades frog : identifying dispersal, migration, and resource uses at multiple spatial scales

Graduation Date

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Program

Other

Program

Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, Natural Resources: Wildlife, 2009

Committee Chair Name

Hartwell H. Welsh

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Keywords

Mark-recapture, Population, Cascades frogs, Habitat use, Gene flow, Patch, Resource complementation, Seasonal migration, Resource use, Dispersal, Rana cascadae, Trinity Alps Wilderness, Resource supplementation, Spatial ecology, Klamath bioregion, Patchy landscape, California, Utilization distribution, Hydroperiod, Demography, Humboldt State University -- Theses -- Wildlife, Radio telemetry, Reproduction, Volume of intersection

Abstract

This study combined both intensive and long-term sampling to provide information on Cascades frog, Rana cascadae, landscape use at multiple spatial scales in the Trinity Alps Wilderness of Northern California. Mark-recapture and radio telemetry were used from 2003 to 2008 to determine key ecological components of R. cascadae life history, resource use, spatial patterns, migrations and dispersal for all post-metamorphic age groups. Rana cascadae often used different aquatic resources for breeding, summer foraging and overwintering. Resources were commonly found to be spatially or temporally separated and frogs were observed to move seasonally among them. Lentic habitats fed by groundwater springs were used extensively for both breeding and overwintering. Seasonal migration events were common among isolated habitats. Single sites were not likely to contain self-sustaining sub-populations, but contribute to a matrix of required seasonal resources across a patchy landscape. The majority of dispersal events occurred between patches located inside a single basin, however, one percent of frogs dispersed among four of six neighboring basins. Consequently the conservation of R. cascadae populations requires management of key resources, processes, and an integration of several spatial scales that reflect the whole range of life history attributes.

https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/nk322g81v

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