Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU

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The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research into questions of major interest to the conservation of a state-endangered amphibian (the boreal toad, Anaxyrus boreas) that will have spill-over application to anuran conservation, especially to species identified as requiring information prior to listing [i.e., prelisting science]. Examples of other species that could benefit from boreal toad research are the Arizona toad (Anaxyrus microschaphus), a toad species that often inhabits high elevations and is susceptible to disease (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd, among others), and the Cascades frog (Rana cascadae), a near-threatened species that is susceptible to Bd). The questions for this funding opportunity include 1) determine demographic rates for multiple populations of boreal toads (adults) at different phases of Bd exposure, and determine if spatial and temporal variation in vital rates is better explained by pathogen prevelence, genetic structure, or environmental characteristics such as habitat or drought; 2) Use genomic information from several populations with the specific tasks of identifying different genetic structures in populations; determine if there is variation in vital rates among these populations, and examining the potential variation in the presence of genes that have been shown to confer resistance to disease in other amphibians (e.g., Major Histocompatibility Complex [MHC] genes [Savage and Zamudio, 2011, Bataille et al. 2015]). The boreal toad is listed as an endangered species in the State of Colorado. It is one of four extant amphibians native to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Amphibian surveys and park records collected since 1915 document a significant decline in the number of boreal toad breeding sites in the last 30 years. During the past 15 years, breeding has been documented at only six sites within the park and in 2017 breeding only occurred in four of these remaining sites. Bd, a fungal pathogen that causes a fatal skin disease in amphibians (Berger et al. 1998), has been credited as the cause of the recent and rapid declines of boreal toads in RMNP (Muths et al. 2003) and the Southern Rocky Mountain region. Of the remaining breeding sites in RMNP, four are positive for Bd.

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