Predicting Breeding Habitat for Amphibians: a Spatiotemporal Analysis Across Yellowstone National Park
Predicting Breeding Habitat for Amphibians: a Spatiotemporal Analysis Across Yellowstone National Park

Author: Paul E. Bartelt

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 18

ISBN-13:

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The ability to predict amphibian breeding across landscapes is important for informing land management decisions and helping biologists better understand and remediate factors contributing to declines in amphibian populations. We built geospatial models of likely breeding habitats for each of four amphibian species that breed in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). We used field data collected in 2000?2002 from 497 sites among 16 basins and predictor variables from geospatial models produced from remotely sensed data (e.g., digital elevation model, complex topographic index, landform data, wetland probability, and vegetative cover). Except for 31 sites in one basin that were surveyed in both 2000 and 2002, all sites were surveyed once. We used polytomous regression to build statistical models for each species of amphibian from (1) field survey site data only, (2) field data combined with data from geospatial models, and (3) data from geospatial models only. Based on measures of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) scores, models of the second type best explained likely breeding habitat because they contained the most information (ROC values ranged from 0.70 to 0.88). However, models of the third type could be applied to the entire YNP landscape and produced maps that could be verified with reserve field data. Accuracy rates for models built for single years were highly variable, ranging from 0.30 to 0.78. Accuracy rates for models built with data combined from multiple years were higher and less variable, ranging from 0.60 to 0.80. Combining results from the geospatial multiyear models yielded maps of ?core? breeding areas (areas with high probability values for all three years) surrounded by areas that scored high for only one or two years, providing an estimate of variability among years. Such information can highlight landscape options for amphibian conservation. For example, our models identify alternative areas that could be protected for each species, including 6828?10 764 ha for tiger salamanders, 971?3017 ha for western toads, 4732?16 696 ha for boreal chorus frogs, and 4940?19 690 ha for Columbia spotted frogs.

Estimating Occupancy in Large Landscapes
Estimating Occupancy in Large Landscapes

Author: William R. Gould

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 11

ISBN-13:

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Monitoring of natural resources is crucial to ecosystem conservation, and yet it can pose many challenges. Annual surveys for amphibian breeding occupancy were conducted in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks over a 4-year period (2006?2009) at two scales: catchments (portions of watersheds) and individual wetland sites. Catchments were selected in a stratified random sample with habitat quality and ease of access serving as strata. All known wetland sites with suitable habitat were surveyed within selected catchments. Changes in breeding occurrence of tiger salamanders, boreal chorus frogs, and Columbia-spotted frogs were assessed using multi-season occupancy estimation. Numerous a priori models were considered within an information theoretic framework including those with catchment and site-level covariates. Habitat quality was the most important predictor of occupancy. Boreal chorus frogs demonstrated the greatest increase in breeding occupancy at the catchment level. Larger changes for all 3 species were detected at the finer site-level scale. Connectivity of sites explained occupancy rates more than other covariates, and may improve understanding of the dynamic processes occurring among wetlands within this ecosystem. Our results suggest monitoring occupancy at two spatial scales within large study areas is feasible and informative.

The Ecology of Large Mammals in Central Yellowstone
The Ecology of Large Mammals in Central Yellowstone

Author: Robert A. Garrott

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2008-11-25

Total Pages: 712

ISBN-13: 0080921051

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This book is an authoritative work on the ecology of some of America’s most iconic large mammals in a natural environment - and of the interplay between climate, landscape, and animals in the interior of the world’s first and most famous national park.Central Yellowstone includes the range of one of the largest migratory populations of bison in North America as well as a unique elk herd that remains in the park year round. These populations live in a varied landscape with seasonal and often extreme patterns of climate and food abundance. The reintroduction of wolves into the park a decade ago resulted in scientific and public controversy about the effect of large predators on their prey, a debate closely examined in the book. Introductory chapters describe the geography, geology and vegetation of the ecosystem. The elk and bison are then introduced and their population ecology described both pre- and post– wolf introduction, enabling valuable insights into the demographic and behavioral consequences for their ungulate prey. Subsequent chapters describe the wildlife-human interactions and show how scientific research can inform the debate and policy issues surrounding winter recreation in Yellowstone. The book closes with a discussion of how this ecological knowledge can be used to educate the public, both about Yellowstone itself and about science, ecology and the environment in general. Yellowstone National Park exemplifies some of the currently most hotly debated and high-profile ecological, wildlife management, and environmental policy issues and this book will have broad appeal not only to academic ecologists, but also to natural resource students, managers, biologists, policy makers, administrators and the general public. Unrivalled descriptions of ecological processes in a world famous ecosystem, based on information from 16 years of painstaking field work and collaborations among 66 scientists and technical experts and 15 graduate studies Detailed studies of two charismatic North American herbivore species – elk and bison Description of the restoration of wolves into central Yellowstone and their ecological interactions with their elk and bison prey Illustrated with numerous evocative colour photographs and stunning maps

Amphibian Monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone Network - Project Report 2007
Amphibian Monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone Network - Project Report 2007

Author: National Park Service

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2013-08-28

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 9781492156338

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Concerns about amphibians have escalated since population declines became apparent in diverse areas around the world in the 1980s (Collins and Storfer 2003). Systematic examinations have revealed that in some regions, including North America, rapid declines probably began around the middle of the 20th century, with the rate of decline increasing in the 1990s (Houlahan et al. 2000; Alford et al. 2001). Worldwide, 32% of amphibian species are now threatened with extinction, while 43% exhibit some form of population decrease (Stuart et al. 2004). Amidst the rapid and general decline in global biodiversity, amphibian population extinctions and declines are particularly alarming because they are occurring not only where habitat has been lost, but also in natural, protected areas.

Remote Sensing of Wetlands in Yellowstone National Park
Remote Sensing of Wetlands in Yellowstone National Park

Author: Christopher Kevin Wright

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13:

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As part of the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, satellite remote sensing was used to identify potential wetland amphibian habitat in Yellowstone National Park. Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery was combined with ancillary predictors of wetland occurrence including habitat type, cover type, landform type, bedrock geology, soil attributes, terrain measures, and climate data. Classification trees were used to predict the likelihood of palustrine wetland occurrence across the Yellowstone landscape. Wetland maps generated by this study are intended to address shortcomings of the National Wetland Inventory in Yellowstone; namely, errors-of-omission and the temporally invariant nature of the inventory. Relative importance of Thematic Mapper imagery, image texture information, terrain measures, and thematic spatial data were assessed by comparing the accuracy of classification trees trained with different subsets of predictors. In general, classification trees using all available predictors exhibited the greatest accuracy. Classification tree structure was similar in models generated with satellite imagery from different years. Also, similar accuracy rates were found across years. The results indicate that the method could be applied to annual wetland monitoring. Average producer's accuracy for the palustrine wetland class was approximately 0.92. Five palustrine wetland classes were discriminated with an average overall accuracy of approximately 0.83. A wetland map derived from a 1 August, 2003 Thematic Mapper image was field-verified in late-summer and early-autumn of 2003. The classification tree methodology appears to be sensitive to within-season wetland condition and yearly wetland variability. Satellite remote sensing located wetlands not mapped by the National Wetland Inventory and also identified upland sites erroneously classified as wetland. Methods developed by this study are general enough to be applied in other physiographic settings and should prove to be useful to amphibian conservation efforts over large geographic extents.

Amphibian Monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone Network?Project Report 2008 and 2009 Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Amphibian Monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone Network?Project Report 2008 and 2009 Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks

Author: National Park National Park System

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2013-10-08

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13: 9781492894872

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The national parks within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) provide an opportunity to monitor amphibians within a relatively intact ecosystem, at spatial and temporal scales that can provide important insights about the status of regional amphibian populations and global declines of amphibians. The Greater Yellowstone Network (GRYN) amphibian monitoring program is the only long-term amphibian monitoring program in the GYE that consistently looks at multiple sites across the ecosystem.

I Heart Wildlife
I Heart Wildlife

Author: Beth Pratt Pratt

Publisher:

Published: 2020-08

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781942549642

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fall in love with wildlife again. Whether you live in the middle of a city, the outskirts of a suburban neighborhood, or the backwoods of a small town, you are surrounded by an array of wild wonder! This self-guided journal, focused on exploring the incredible and awe-inspiring animals of this world, near and far, will help you connect (or reconnect) to the remarkable wildlife around the globe and in your own backyard.