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Wetland Reserve Program Enhances Site Occupancy and Species Richness in Assemblages of Anuran Amphibians in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA

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Abstract

We measured amphibian habitat use to quantify the effectiveness of conservation practices implemented under the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), an initiative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. From February to June 2007, we quantified calling male anurans in cultivated cropland, former cultivated cropland restored through the WRP, and mature bottomland hardwood forest. Sites were located in two watersheds within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas and Louisiana, USA. We estimated detection probability and site occupancy within each land use category using a Bayesian hierarchical model of community species occurrence, and derived an estimate of species richness at each site. Relative to sites in cultivated cropland, nine of 1 l species detected were significantly more likely to occur at WRP sites and six were more likely to occur at forested sites. Species richness estimates were also higher for WRP and forested sites, compared to those in cultivated cropland. Almost half (45 %) of the species responded positively to both WRP and forested sites, indicating that patches undergoing restoration may be important transitional habitats. Wetland Reserve Program conservation practices are successful in restoring suitable habitat and reducing the impact of cultivation-induced habitat loss on amphibians in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the private landowners for access to their property, and the following USDA-NRCS employees who contacted landowners and helped coordinate our project in their areas: A. Bridgewater, J. Jenkins, M. Tidwell, D. Fowlkes, and R. Childress. D. Eckles provided much advice and support. M. Baldwin and P. Bhattarai helped evaluate and locate study sites. M. Baldwin, J. Beck, P. Bhattarai, C. Case, W. Hedge, S. Hill, S. Hunnicutt and T. Trahan assisted with field work. J. Beck listened to all recordings and made all species identifications. J. Sullivan designed and assembled the ARU’s and R. Putnam developed the recorder software. M. Melder, M. Silva and J. Richard helped with other ARU issues. We are grateful to J. Barichivich, S. Bostick, M. Brown, and C. Smith for their help in proofing the database, and B. Glorioso for preparing Fig. 1. We thank K. Haag and J. Mitchell for reading an earlier draft of the manuscript. Personnel at Buckhorn Wildlife Management Area, Tensas River, Cache River and White River National Wildlife Refuges granted permission to work in these areas. This study was funded by USDA-NRCS and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (USGS-ARMI). Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This is contribution number 459 of USGS-ARMI.

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  1. Susan C. Walls

    Present address: U.S. Geological Survey, Southeast Ecological Science Center, 7920 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, FL, 32653, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA, 70506, USA

    Susan C. Walls, J. Hardin Waddle & Stephen P. Faulkner

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Leetown Science Center, 11649 Leetown Road, Kearneysville, WV, 25430, USA

    Stephen P. Faulkner

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  1. Susan C. Walls
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Correspondence to Susan C. Walls.

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Walls, S.C., Waddle, J.H. & Faulkner, S.P. Wetland Reserve Program Enhances Site Occupancy and Species Richness in Assemblages of Anuran Amphibians in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA. Wetlands 34, 197–207 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-013-0498-6

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