Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU

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The purpose of the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NoRock) funding opportunity is to conduct research on the sublethal effects of wildfire and logging on amphibians. Because the frequency and duration of large wildfires in forests of the western U.S. have increased and because fire severity is expected to intensify in the future due to climate conditions, new management policies have been generated due to these concerns. Research on amphibians in Western forests has occurred primarily in wilderness areas and other protected lands. However, the effects of wildfire on amphibians is likely magnified in managed landscapes where populations may already be depressed due to habitat changes from logging. In our research, we propose to use measures of vigor, including body size, condition and egg size, physiological stress and the prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)—the pathogen that causes the disease chytridiomycosis—to quantify sublethal effects of wildfire and loggingon the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) and the Rocky Mountain tailed frog (Ascaphus montanus), the two species in the region most likely to be negatively affected by these disturbance.Most disturbance-related amphibian declines are related to a suite of correlated sublethal effects, including reduce growth and body size, body condition, and increased physiological stress that may compromise immunity. All of these effects are linked to survival, reproduction, dispersal, and gene flow, factors that are most critical to population persistence. Sublethal effects have recently been adopted as measures of the effects of disturbance on amphibian populations. By assessing the response to disturbance of several measures of sublethal effects as measures of disturbance, we hope to develop highly responsive and broadly applicable indices of future population risk in amphibians.NoRock conducts research in support of natural resources management in the mountains and plains of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho. The Center produces and disseminates scientific information needed for decision-making in collaboration with Federal and State land management agencies, Native American tribes, academic institutions and organizations.Since 2001, NoRock has funded projects that advance the Center in producing strong and unbiased scientific information necessary for decision making. The Center will continue to support such projects.

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