Amphibians: The endurance athletes of Rocky Mountain National Park
For Amphibian Week 2024, FORT is celebrating four athletic amphibians from Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP): the western tiger salamander, the wood frog, the boreal chorus frog, and the boreal toad. These four species endure some of the toughest conditions an amphibian can experience including over eight months of snow each year, hot and dry summer conditions, and unpredictable wildfires.
Over evolutionary time, these four species have successfully evolved to conquer and thrive in this extreme world, but can they continue to compete in a rapidly changing environment?
In addition to the already extreme conditions, vegetation in parts of the park with high amphibian diversity has transitioned from willow-dominated to grass-dominated due to unchecked herbivory, which in turn has altered and reduced the wetlands that amphibians depend on. On top of this, visitor use has skyrocketed over the last decade and impacts by visitors on amphibians are not well understood. FORT scientists have been monitoring these four species since the late 1980s and data from three species (western tiger salamander, boreal chorus frog, and wood frog) contributed to a recent analysis led by Amanda Kissel that aims to understand if these amphibians are keeping pace as additional stressors are piled on.
To do this, Kissel and colleagues painstakingly compiled a time series of amphibian surveys conducted by USGS in RMNP from 1988 through 2019. They then chose the most surveyed sites from the time series to revisit between 2020 and 2022 to get a snapshot of the current status of amphibians in the park. They analyzed these data as a function of changes in climate, vegetation, and visitor use to see if amphibians were continuing to occupy sites where they historically occurred.
These results will soon be published in a peer-reviewed journal. They have also been shared with RMNP park biologists with the goal of guiding further research on how visitor use and vegetation changes directly impact amphibians and what steps could be taken to mitigate these impacts so that the endurance athletes of RMNP can continued to be admired by all.
Participate in Amphibian Week 2024
Get your #AmphibianGameFace on! Whether they hop, swim, climb, or crawl, our slimy friends have many amazing athletic qualities! Amphibian enthusiasts will be celebrating these amazing athletes, their adaptations, and their accomplishments this #AmphibianWeek2024. Hop in and join the fun!
Find an in-person or virtual event!
Vote for the USGS contender, the rough-skinned newt, as the most Extreme Amphibian Athlete
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Related Content
A Framework for Guiding Management Decisions for Amphibians in an Uncertain Future
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Why are amphibian populations declining?
Research suggests that even though amphibians are severely declining worldwide, there is no smoking gun—and thus no simple solution—to halting or reversing these declines. Though every region in the United States has suffered amphibian declines, threats differ among regions. They include: Human influence from the Mississippi River east, including the metropolitan areas of the Northeast and the...
How many amphibian species are there in the United States?
More than 6,000 amphibian species exist worldwide, with approximately 300 of them found in the United States. The USGS is the lead agency for the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) , a program of amphibian monitoring, research, and conservation that was established in response to the worldwide decline of amphibian species.
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