Citizen science reveals widespread negative effects of roads on amphibian distributions

Abstract

a b s t r a c tLandscape structure is important for shaping the abundance and distribution of amphibians, but prior studies of landscape effects have been species or ecosystem-specific. Using a large-scale, citizen science-generated database, we examined the effects of habitat composition, road disturbance, and habitat split (i.e. the isolation of wetland from forest by intervening land use) on the distribution and richness of frogs and toads in the eastern and central United States. Undergraduates from nine biology and environmental science courses collated occupancy data and characterized landscape structure at 1617 sampling locations from the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program. Our analysis revealed that anuran species richness and individual species distributions were consistently constrained by both road density and traffic volume. In contrast, developed land around wetlands had small, or even positive effects on anuran species richness and distributions after controlling for road effects. Effects of upland habitat composition varied among species, and habitat split had only weak effects on species richness or individual species distributions. Mechanisms underlying road effects on amphibians involve direct mortality, behavioral barriers to movement, and reduction in the quality of roadside habitats. Our results suggest that the negative effects of roads on amphibians occur across broad geographic regions, affecting even common species, and they underscore the importance of developing effective strategies to mitigate the impacts of roads on amphibian populations.

Species traits explaining sensitivity of snakes to human land use estimated from citizen science data

“…However, the community assemblage in the present study is both highly characteristic of the southeastern US and it includes many species widely distributed across North America, where threats like urbanization, wetland loss, and land conversion for agriculture are all common. Nevertheless, at least one study provides caution that results from any single state may not reflect nationwide trends (Cosentino et al, 2014).…”

Greening healthcare: systematic implementation of environmental programmes in a university teaching hospital

“…A hospital with thousands of staff may host a willing cohort of volunteers and experts. Staff members in CUH and elsewhere participate in projects and citizen science that contribute significantly to biodiversity protection (Cosentino et al, 2014). As recorded in Tables 1 and 2, CUH complied with environmental legislation, yet management sought to engage further with voluntary environmental protection measures.…”

Factors Affecting Students’ Attitudes Toward Toads

“…Amphibians are vulnerable animals due to their aquatic and terrestrial life (Hussain & Pandit, 2012), and their permeable skin is very sensitive to environmental conditions (Collins & Storfer, 2003). The worldwide decline of amphibians can be contributed to habitat destruction, alternation, and fragmentation Cushman, 2006;Ferreira & Beja, 2013;Cosentino et al, 2014), over-exploitation (Jensen & Camp, 2003), UVB radiation (Blaustein et al, 2003), chemical contaminants (Blaustein et al, 2003;Pezdirc et al, 2011), disease (Hussain & Pandit, 2012), competition with introduced species (Vredenburg, 2004), and most probably to other, yet unidentified factors, as well. For a detailed review, see also Beebee & Griffith (2005) and Blaustein & Kiesecker (2002).…”