Anuran occupancy of created wetlands in the Central Appalachians

作者：Strain Gabriel F^*; Turk Philip J; Tri Andrew N; Anderson James T

来源：Wetlands Ecology and Management, 2017, 25(3): 369-384.

DOI：10.1007/s11273-016-9523-x

• Anurans
• Call survey
• Compensatory mitigation
• Habitat
• Wetland function
• Wetland loss

Evaluating the adequacy of created wetlands to replace the functions of lost natural wetlands is important because wetland mitigation is a major tool used to offset wetland losses. However, measurements such as vegetative cover and presence of wildlife may not provide sufficient evidence that created wetlands are functioning properly and thus examining the ecology of wetland biota such as that of amphibians may be a more useful surrogate for function. The objectives of this study were to compare the occupancy and detection of calling anurans in created wetlands relative to beaver-created wetlands. Five-, 10-min, and broadcast call surveys were performed at 24 wetlands throughout the Central Appalachians once every month from March through August of 2009 and 2010. Occupancy modeling was used to estimate the occupancy and detection of individual species, incorporating relevant environmental variables. The occupancy of anurans did not differ between human-created and beaver (Castor canadensis)-created wetlands. Detection of anurans was largely unaffected by call survey type, but several environmental covariates had a significant effect on the detectability of calling anurans. Our results suggest that the function of providing adequate chorusing habitat for adult anurans is being fulfilled by the created wetlands that we examined.

• 出版日期2017-6