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Facilitative interaction promotes occupancy of a desert amphibian across a climate gradient

  • Conservation ecology – original research
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Abstract

Biotic interactions and environmental factors influence a species’ occurrence. Facilitative interactions have the potential to expand species occupancy and mitigate abiotic stress, but are often not considered. The Great Basin clade of the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) is an aquatic amphibian found in the arid and semi-arid Great Basin, USA. Aquatic resources in this system are limited and likely to change under future climate scenarios. American beavers (Castor canadensis) are ecosystem engineers that impact the surrounding landscape by increasing water availability. Consequently, beaver-created habitat can facilitate the presence of other species by providing the aquatic resources required by many aquatic and riparian animals. Our objective was to understand patterns of co-occurrence between Columbia spotted frogs and beavers across environmental gradients in the Great Basin, USA. We used environmental DNA detections to quantify the co-occurrence of Columbia spotted frog and beaver using a two-species occupancy framework. At the lowest annual precipitation (202 mm), Columbia spotted frogs were 3× (95% CI 2.35, 3.96) more likely to occur with beavers than without; however, they were less likely to occur with beavers once precipitation was > 380 mm. Thus, beaver activity may increase aquatic resources for Columbia spotted frogs in the Great Basin that may mitigate changing precipitation patterns under climate change. Facilitative interactions likely extend to other aquatic species in arid systems and highlight an important consideration for ecologists when evaluating a species’ response to climate change, and may promote the formation of refugia for species with strict abiotic tolerances and dispersal limitations.

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Data availability statement

Dataset used in this study is available on the Figshare repository. Figshare, dataset, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.18282185.v1.

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Acknowledgements

We thank David Pilliod for initiating the pilot study for eDNA sampling of this species and providing valuable advice on initial sampling design. Mitch Czerwinski and Caleb Klima provided field support and Robert Arkle provided information on previous modeling efforts. We thank Kelli Van Norman, Chad Mellison, Jeff Petersen, Teri Slatauski, Paul Makela, and Jeremy Bisson for their support and valuable knowledge of Columbia spotted frogs in the Great Basin. We thank Daniel Thornton and Rod Saylor for reviewing study design and providing feedback on results and conclusions of this study.

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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  1. Matthew M. Smith

    Present address: Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

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  1. School of the Environment, Washington State University, 100 Dairy Rd., Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Matthew M. Smith & Caren S. Goldberg

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Contributions

MMS and CSG conceived idea and developed the methodology. MMS conducted fieldwork, performed molecular analysis, and analyzed the data. MMS and CSG wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Matthew M. Smith.

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Additional information

We demonstrate how facilitative interactions can promote occupancy in a semi-arid system; predicted to become warmer and drier. We used eDNA at regional scales to advance methodology and conservation.

Additional information

Communicated by Mathew Samuel Crowther.

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Smith, M.M., Goldberg, C.S. Facilitative interaction promotes occupancy of a desert amphibian across a climate gradient. Oecologia 198, 815–823 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05127-6

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