| amphibian chytrid fungus and ranaviruses in the northwest territories, canada. | pathogens can cause serious declines in host species, and knowing where pathogens associated with host declines occur facilitates understanding host-pathogen ecology. suspected drivers of global amphibian declines include infectious diseases, with 2 pathogens in particular, batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd) and ranaviruses, causing concern. we explored the host range and geographic distribution of bd and ranaviruses in the taiga plains ecoregion of the northwest territories, canada, in 2007 an ... | 2010 | 21268986 |
| distribution and reproductive strategies of gyrinicola batrachiensis (oxyuroidea: pharyngodonidae) in larvae of eight species of amphibians from nebraska. | abstract a total of 462 tadpoles and salamander larvae of 8 species was examined for the presence of gyrinicola batrachiensis from 5 locations in nebraska. infection by g. batrachiensis occurred in tadpoles of rana blairi, r. catesbeiana, r. pipiens, and bufo woodhousii. tadpoles of hyla chrysoscelis, spea bombifrons, and pseudacris maculata and larvae of ambystoma mavortium were not infected with g. batrachiensis. population structure, defined as prevalence, mean abundance, and mean intensity o ... | 2011 | 21506837 |
| evaluation of a filtration-based method for detecting batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in natural bodies of water. | infectious diseases are emerging as a significant threat to wildlife. the resulting increased effort to monitor wildlife diseases is driving the development of innovative pathogen monitoring techniques, including many polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-based diagnostics. despite the utility of these pcr-based techniques, there is still much to be learned about their ability to accurately detect target pathogens in nature. we assessed the diagnostic sensitivity of a pcr-based water filtration techni ... | 2012 | 22422089 |
| testing wetland features to increase amphibian reproductive success and species richness for mitigation and restoration. | aquatic habitat features can directly influence the abundance, species richness, and quality of juvenile amphibians recruited into adult populations. we examined the influences of within-wetland slope, vegetation, and stocked mosquito fish (gambusia affinis) on amphibian metamorph production and species richness during the first two years post-construction at 18 experimental wetlands in northeast missouri (u.s.a.) grasslands. we used an information theoretic approach (aicc) to rank regression mo ... | 2012 | 22908722 |
| effects of leachate from tree leaves and grass litter on tadpoles. | tree species composition can change as a result of succession, climate change, fire suppression, and invasive species. these changes clearly affect forests, but they can also affect aquatic ecosystems based on differences in the input quality of leaf litter, such as plant secondary compounds. these compounds vary in type and concentration depending on species and can be toxic to aquatic organisms. to examine toxic effects on pseudacris maculata and pseudacris crucifer tadpoles, we conducted 60-d ... | 2012 | 22488805 |
| myiasis by lucilia silvarum (calliphoridae) in amphibian species in boreal alberta, canada. | we report myiasis by lucilia silvarum with an overall prevalence of 0.9% in amphibian populations in boreal alberta. in the period 1998--1999, we documented l. silvarum infestations in wild populations of wood frog (rana sylvatica), boreal chorus frog (pseudacris maculata), boreal toad (bufo boreas boreas), and canadian toad (b. hemiophrys). we believe this is the first record of this parasite from boreal and canadian toads. almost all previous records of l. silvarum parasitism in north america ... | 2008 | 18576743 |
| selective predation of gray jays, perisoreus canadensis, upon boreal chorus frogs, pseudacris triseriata. | | 1980 | 28581143 |
| pesticide concentrations in frog tissue and wetland habitats in a landscape dominated by agriculture. | habitat loss and exposure to pesticides are likely primary factors contributing to amphibian decline in agricultural landscapes. conservation efforts have attempted to restore wetlands lost through landscape modifications to reduce contaminant loads in surface waters and providing quality habitat to wildlife. the benefits of this increased wetland area, perhaps especially for amphibians, may be negated if habitat quality is insufficient to support persistent populations. we examined the presence ... | 2015 | 25244036 |
| predicting breeding habitat for amphibians: a spatiotemporal analysis across yellowstone national park. | 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 re ... | 2011 | 22073642 |
| relative toxicity and sublethal effects of nacl and energy-related saline wastewaters on prairie amphibians. | increasing salinity in freshwater environments is a growing problem due both to the negative influences of salts on ecosystems and their accumulation and persistence in environments. two major sources of increased salinity from sodium chloride salts (nacl) are saline wastewaters co-produced during energy production (herein, wastewaters) and road salts. effects of road salts have received more attention, but legacy contamination from wastewaters is widespread in some regions and spills still occu ... | 2020 | 32992088 |
| associations between environmental pollutants and larval amphibians in wetlands contaminated by energy-related brines are potentially mediated by feeding traits. | energy production in the williston basin, located in the prairie pothole region of central north america, has increased rapidly over the last several decades. advances in recycling and disposal practices of saline wastewaters (brines) co-produced during energy production have reduced ecological risks, but spills still occur often and legacy practices of releasing brines into the environment caused persistent salinization in many areas. aside from sodium and chloride, these brines contain elevate ... | 2019 | 30798027 |
| drivers of distributions and niches of north american cold-adapted amphibians: evaluating both climate and land use. | species distribution estimates are often used to understand the niche of a species; however, these are often based solely on climatic predictors. when the influences of biotic factors are ignored, erroneous inferences about range and niche may be made. we aimed to integrate climate data with a unique set of available land cover and land use data for the six cold-adapted amphibians of north america (ambystoma macrodactylum, anaxyrus hemiophrys, anaxyrus boreas, pseudacris maculata, rana sylvatica ... | 2020 | 33052615 |
| factors influencing detection and co-detection of ranavirus and batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in midwestern north american anuran populations. | amphibian populations are in decline worldwide as they face a barrage of challenges, including infectious diseases caused by ranaviruses and the amphibian chytrid fungus batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (bd). here we describe seasonal dynamics of bd and ranavirus detection in free-ranging post-metamorphic wood frogs lithobates sylvaticus, boreal chorus frogs pseudacris maculata/triseriata, and gray treefrogs hyla versicolor/chrysoscelis, sampled over a 3 season gradient in minnesota (usa) wetlands ... | 2018 | 29733024 |
| multi-tool diagnosis of an outbreak of ranavirosis in amphibian tadpoles in the canadian boreal forest. | investigation of mortalities in isolated wild amphibian populations presents diagnostic difficulties that can hinder reaching a definitive diagnosis for the cause of death. disease can only be diagnosed when pathogen presence (e.g. detection by pcr) is linked to tissue lesions (histopathology) in the host. we report a 2-site outbreak of ranavirosis in wild anuran tadpoles in the boreal forest of wood buffalo national park, canada, diagnosed by histologic and molecular techniques. mortalities occ ... | 2019 | 31219433 |
| multistate occupancy modeling improves understanding of amphibian breeding dynamics in the greater yellowstone area. | discerning the determinants of species occurrence across landscapes is fundamental to their conservation and management. in spatially and climatologically complex landscapes, explaining the dynamics of occurrence can lead to improved understanding of short- vs. long-term trends and offer novel insight on local vs. regional change. we examined the changes in occupancy for two species of anurans with different life histories over a decade using hundreds of wetland sites in yellowstone and grand te ... | 2019 | 30403314 |
| widespread legacy brine contamination from oil production reduces survival of chorus frog larvae. | advances in drilling techniques have facilitated a rapid increase in hydrocarbon extraction from energy shales, including the williston basin in central north america. this area overlaps with the prairie pothole region, a region densely populated with wetlands that provide numerous ecosystem services. historical (legacy) disposal practices often released saline co-produced waters (brines) with high chloride concentrations, affecting wetland water quality directly or persisting in sediments. desp ... | 2017 | 28863397 |
| how spatio-temporal habitat connectivity affects amphibian genetic structure. | heterogeneous landscapes and fluctuating environmental conditions can affect species dispersal, population genetics, and genetic structure, yet understanding how biotic and abiotic factors affect population dynamics in a fluctuating environment is critical for species management. we evaluated how spatio-temporal habitat connectivity influences dispersal and genetic structure in a population of boreal chorus frogs (pseudacris maculata) using a landscape genetics approach. we developed gravity mod ... | 2015 | 26442094 |
| elevational speciation in action? restricted gene flow associated with adaptive divergence across an altitudinal gradient. | evolutionary theory predicts that divergent selection pressures across elevational gradients could cause adaptive divergence and reproductive isolation in the process of ecological speciation. although there is substantial evidence for adaptive divergence across elevation, there is less evidence that this restricts gene flow. previous work in the boreal chorus frog (pseudacris maculata) has demonstrated adaptive divergence in morphological, life history and physiological traits across an elevati ... | 2016 | 26363130 |
| urea is not a universal cryoprotectant among hibernating anurans: evidence from the freeze-tolerant boreal chorus frog (pseudacris maculata). | freeze-tolerant organisms accumulate a diversity of low molecular weight compounds to combat negative effects of ice formation. previous studies of anuran freeze tolerance have implicated urea as a cryoprotectant in the wood frog (lithobates sylvatica). however, a cryoprotective role for urea has been identified only for wood frogs, though urea accumulation is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for coping with osmotic stress in amphibians. to identify whether multiple solutes are involved in ... | 2013 | 23142424 |