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 amphibians in the western United States, which is one of the hotspots for amphibian decline. Causes of declines include habitat destruction, pesticides, and disease, but declines have also occurred without obvious causes in protected areas such as national parks and wilderness areas. ARMI biologists at two USGS Science Centers and Idaho State University have established the Great Divide Transect, comprising Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain National Parks to monitor amphibians and study causes of declines in the Rocky Mountains. This transect includes some of the most significant protected areas in the U.S., is distributed over an unprecedented 8° of latitude, and provides the ability to track changes in status of amphibians to gradients in climate and habitat. Data have been collected on the Great Divide transect since the inception of ARMI in 2000, through partnerships and funding from USGS, NPS, and Idaho State University, making this the best studied suite of mid-level monitoring sites in ARMI. Results to date reveal a gradient in occupancy by amphibians along the Continental Divided. Occupancy is extremely low in Rocky Mountain National Park compared to the more northern parks, indicating that declines are not limited to the crash in boreal toad (Bufo boreas) populations caused by pathogenic chytrid fungus. Other surveys by Rocky Mountain ARMI in 2003-2004 established that this pathogen is common throughout the transect. Although the outlook is not certain, the potential exists for serious declines in amphibians in the Yellowstone ecosystem and Glacier National Park. Data collected to date by ARMI are critical to evaluating the immediacy of this threat. 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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