Shifting status and distribution of range margin chorus frog (Pseudacris) populations in eastern Great Lakes watersheds

Corser, Jeffrey D.; Roblee, Kenneth J.; Johnson, Glenn

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2012.09.005

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The recent split of trilling chorus frogs ( Pseudacris spp.) and identification of a new species [ 13 , 14 ], for example, prompted local status assessments based on the newly identified species limits and demonstrated sharp declines in one of the contained species [ 15 , 16 ]. Confirmation of cryptic diversity in cavefish [ 17 ] was followed by conservation status assessments that showed many lineages to be of conservation concern [ 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Follow-up ecological studies for cryptic species discoveries: Decrypting the leopard frogs of the eastern U.S.

et al. 2018

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Cryptic species are a challenge for systematics, but their elucidation also may leave critical information gaps about the distribution, conservation status, and behavior of affected species. We use the leopard frogs of the eastern U.S. as a case study of this issue. We refined the known range of the recently described Rana kauffeldi, the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog, relative to the region’s two other leopard frog species, conducted assessments of conservation status, and improved methods for separating the three species using morphological field characters. We conducted over 2,000 call and visual surveys and took photographs of and tissue samples from hundreds of frogs. Genetic analysis supported a three-species taxonomy and provided determinations for 220 individual photographed frogs. Rana kauffeldi was confirmed in eight U.S. states, from North Carolina to southern Connecticut, hewing closely to the Atlantic Coastal Plain. It can be reliably differentiated in life from R. pipiens, and from R. sphenocephala 90% of the time, based on such characters as the femoral reticulum patterning, dorsal spot size and number, and presence of a snout spot. However, the only diagnostic character separating R. kauffeldi from R. sphenocephala remains the breeding call described in 2014. Based on our field study, museum specimens, and prior survey data, we suggest that R. kauffeldi has declined substantially in the northern part of its range, but is more secure in the core of its range. We also report, for the first time, apparent extirpations of R. pipiens from the southeastern portion of its range, previously overlooked because of confusion with R. kauffeldi. We conclude with a generalized ecological research agenda for cryptic species. For R. kauffeldi, needs include descriptions of earlier life stages, studies of niche partitioning with sympatric congeners and the potential for hybridization, and identification of conservation actions to prevent further declines.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Follow-up ecological studies for cryptic species discoveries: Decrypting the leopard frogs of the eastern U.S.

et al. 2018

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“…it was once considered common southeast of Montréal (Bleakney 1959), but now appears completely absent from that area (Daigle 1997) and is extremely rare in Quebec (Desroches and rodrigue 2004;COSEWiC 2008*). it has also become less widespread in areas of northern new York state (Gibbs et al 2005;Corser et al 2012) and eastern Ontario near Cornwall (Seburn et al 2008) and appears to have been extirpated from vermont (Andrews 2013). largely as a result of declines in Quebec, the Great lakes/St.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A range-wide analysis of the mitochondrial DnA of trilling chorus frogs substantially revised our understanding of species limits in this group and determined that populations in eastern Ontario and western Quebec should be assigned to the Boreal Chorus Frog species (lemmon et al 2007). These taxonomic changes have been widely accepted (e.g., Corser et al 2012;Dodd 2013), which requires that the literature on trilling chorus frogs be examined carefully to determine the current species allocation. Even recent papers (e.g., Sacerdote and King, in press) do not always follow the current taxonomy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Apparent widespread decline of the Boreal Chorus Frog (<em>Pseudacris maculata</em>) in eastern Ottawa

Seburn

Gunson²,

Schueler³

2014

Can Field Nat

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The Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculata) was once common in the eastern Ottawa area. To assess its current status, we conducted auditory surveys at 184 wetlands in 2011 and 2012. Boreal Chorus Frogs were heard at only five (2.7%) of the surveyed sites. These five sites were spatially aggregated, with only 0.5-7.5 km between any two sites. Sites occupied by Boreal Chorus Frogs in eastern Ottawa were surrounded by significantly greater agricultural cover (at 1.0-, 1.5-, and 2.0-km radii), less forest cover (1.0-and 2.0-km radii), and less wetland cover (1.5-and 2.0-km radii) than occupied sites in western Ottawa. Sites in eastern Ottawa that were apparently unoccupied were surrounded by significantly greater agricultural cover (only at the 2.0-km radius), similar forest cover (all radii), and less wetland cover (all radii) compared with occupied sites in western Ottawa. Boreal Chorus Frog populations are commonly subject to extirpation resulting from stochastic events. The reduced wetland cover in eastern Ottawa may be accompanied by reduced wetland connectivity, making recolonization of wetlands difficult or impossible. Our data do not show whether wetland connectivity has been reduced, but future research should address this important topic.

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Genetic Characterization of Imperiled Boreal Chorus Frogs Identifies Populations for Conservation

Rogic

Tessier

Lapointe

2019

Journal of Herpetology

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Shifting status and distribution of range margin chorus frog (Pseudacris) populations in eastern Great Lakes watersheds

Cited by 3 publications

References 38 publications

Follow-up ecological studies for cryptic species discoveries: Decrypting the leopard frogs of the eastern U.S.

Follow-up ecological studies for cryptic species discoveries: Decrypting the leopard frogs of the eastern U.S.

Apparent widespread decline of the Boreal Chorus Frog (<em>Pseudacris maculata</em>) in eastern Ottawa

Genetic Characterization of Imperiled Boreal Chorus Frogs Identifies Populations for Conservation

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