Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU

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US Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK), is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research to evaluate the impact of the eradication of the invasive American bullfrog on threatened Chiricahua Leopard Frog and the threatened Northern Mexican Gartersnake populations in southern Arizona. The continued presence of bullfrogs threatens to reverse gains in recovery through previous eradication efforts. Current efforts will focus on the remaining strongholds of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR) and areas in the surrounding landscape that continue to serve as a source of new invaders. The project area will include the BANWR, Coronado National Forest, private and State lands in southern Arizona along the USA/Mexico border. eDNA methods will be used to estimate occupancy of Chiricahua Leopard Frogs, Northern Mexican Gartersnakes, the American Bullfrog, as well as five additional species of amphibians or pathogens that commonly occur in this landscape. Stratification of sampling areas will take place so as to compare and recommend management actions based on the relative value of targeting several small populations of invasive species compared to targeting a few, large populations of an invasive species.

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