(Meta)population Dynamics of a Threatened Native Amphibian, Rana draytonii

Antonia D'Amore

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

University of California, Santa Cruz

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ABSTRACT

D’AMORE, ANTONIA
Dept. of Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, damore@biology.ucsc.edu

(Meta)population Dynamics of a Threatened Native Amphibian, Rana draytonii

Building off of work done with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (ESNERR), I am working with two different populations of the California Red-legged Frog, Rana draytonii. One population is located at ESNERR, spread throughout 5 different ponds. The other is on privately owned land with the frogs inhabiting 15 different ponds. I am currently conducting a mark/recapture study using PIT tags in order to estimate interannual survivorship and transition rates between the different ponds. I intend to use this data to build a simple metapopulation model that will describe their movement. In addition to this work, I am radio-tracking a sub-set of the frogs to look at their upland habitat usage and to obtain detailed information about their dispersal routes between ponds. This will potentially allow me to incorporate the effects of matrix habitat type into the model.

Another part of my research focuses on indirect interactions between Rana draytonii and its invasive competitor and predator, Rana catesbeiana, the American Bullfrog. I focus specifically on changes in microhabitat usage within the ponds, and in breeding behavior.