Skip to main content

Assessing habitat requirements of pond-breeding amphibians in a highly urbanized landscape: implications for management

Urban Ecosystems volume 19, pages 1801–1821 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Management of urban aquatic habitats for native wildlife, such as amphibians, is an important contemporary goal for many municipalities. However, our understanding of how local and landscape characteristics of urban aquatic habitat promote or inhibit amphibian occupancy and recruitment is limited. In this study, we examined amphibian community composition and occurrence patterns in ponds, wetlands, and swales of Gresham, Oregon. We collected occurrence data for five native amphibians: northwestern salamander (Ambystoma gracile), long-toed salamander (A. macrodactylum), Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla), northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora aurora), and rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) as well as one non-native amphibian, the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus). One hundred sites were surveyed from 2007 to 2013. Local and landscape attributes were characterized for each site, and potential drivers of species occupancy were evaluated using a combination of multivariate approaches and generalized linear models. In general, percent impervious surface and distance to nearest forest patch, both associated with urbanization, were negatively correlated with site occupancy for all species. Non-native vegetation was also negatively associated with occupancy of three species (long-toed salamanders, Pacific chorus frogs, and northern red-legged frogs). In contrast, occupancy was positively correlated with pond depth and hydroperiod length for all species. We found evidence of two distinct groups of co-occurring amphibian species driven by habitat depth and hydroperiod. Finally, we report results of threshold analyses that examined species-specific habitat associations. This study describes urban habitat associations of a native amphibian community, identifies factors with positive, negative or mixed relationships with amphibian species, and is an important step in informing the management of urban aquatic habitat to promote persistence of native amphibians.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

39,95 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Adams MJ (1999) Correlated factors in amphibian decline: exotic species and habitat change in western Washington. J Wildl Manag 63:1162–1171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akaike H (1973) Information theory and an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In: Petrov BN, Csaki F (eds) Second International Symposium on Information Theory. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, pp 267–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Aubry KB (2000) Amphibians in managed, second-growth Douglas-fir forests. J Wildl Manag 64:1041–1052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aubry KB, Hall PA (1991) Terrestrial amphibian communities in the southern Washington Cascade Range. In: Ruggiero LF, Aubry KB, Carey AB, Huff MH (eds) U.S. Forest Service general technical report PNW-GTR-Pacific Northwest Research Station, USA. pp 326–338

  • Babbitt KJ (2005) The relative importance of wetland size and hydroperiod for amphibians in southern New Hampshire, USA. Wetl Ecol Manag 13(3):269–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft BA, Baker NJ, Searle CL, Garcia TS, Blaustein AR (2008) Larval amphibians seek warm temperatures and do not avoid harmful UVB radiation. Behav Ecol 19:879–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartoń K (2014) Package ‘MuMIn’: model selection and model averaging based on information criteria (AICc and alike). R package version 1.10.5. Manual: http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/MuMIn/MuMIn.pdf

  • Becker CG, Fonseca CR, Haddad CFB, Batista RF, Prado PI (2007) Habitat split and the global decline of amphibians. Science 318:1775–1777

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beneski JT Jr, Zalisko EJ, Larsen JHJ (1986) Demography and migratory patterns of the eastern long-toed salamander, Ambystoma macrodactylum columbianum. Copeia 1986:398–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birx-Raybuck DA, Price SJ, Dorcas ME (2010) Pond age and riparian zone proximity influence anuran occupancy of urban retention ponds. Urban Ecosyst 13(2):181–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brand AB, Snodgrass JW (2010) Value of artificial habitats for amphibian reproduction in altered landscapes. Conserv Biol 24:295–301

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brand AB, Snodgrass JW, Gallagher MT, Casey RE, Van Meter R (2010) Lethal and sublethal effects of embryonic and larval exposure of Hyla versicolor to stormwater pond sediments. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 58:325–331

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks RT, Hayashi M (2002) Depth-area-volume and hydroperiod relationships of ephemeral (vernal) forest pools in southern New England. Wetlands 22:247–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown HA (1975) Reproduction and development of the red-legged frog, Rana aurora, in northwestern Washington. Northwest Sci 49:241–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown DJ, Street GM, Nairn RW, Forstner MRJ (2012) A place to call home: amphibian use of created and restored wetlands. Int J Ecol. doi:10.1155/2012/989872

    Google Scholar 

  • Bull EL, Marx DB (2002) Influence of fish and habitat on amphibian communities in high elevation lakes in northeastern Oregon. Northwest Sci 76:240–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multi-model inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • City of Chicago (2006) Department of Planning and Development and Mayor Daley’s Nature and Wildlife Committee Nature and Wildlife Plan. Department of Planning and Development, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • City of Seattle (2015) Seattle – municipal code. Municipal Code Corporation, Tallahassee

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/

  • Corkran CC, Thoms C (2006) Amphibians of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia: a field identification guide. Lone Pine, Auburn

    Google Scholar 

  • Czech B, Krausmann PR, Devers PK (2000) Economic associations among causes of species endangerment in the United States. Bioscience 50:593–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ESRI (2011) ArcGIS desktop: Release 10. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher RA (1922) On the interpretation of χ2 from contingency tables, and the calculation of P. J R Stat Soc 85(1):87–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley JA, DeFries R, Asne GP, Barford C, Bonan G, Carpenter SR, Chapin FS, Coe MT, Daily GC, Gibbs HK, Helkowski JH, Holloway T, Howard EA, Kucharik CJ, Monfreda C, Patz JA, Prentice IC, Ramankutty N, Snyder PK (2005) Global consequences of land use. Science 309:570–574

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher MT, Snodgrass JW, Ownby DR, Brand AB, Casey RE, Lev S (2011) Watershed-scale analysis of pollutant distributions in stormwater management ponds. Urban Ecosyst 14(3):469–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher MT, Snodgrass JW, Brand AB, Casey RE, Lev SM, Van Meter RJ (2014) The role of pollutant accumulation in determining the use of stormwater ponds by amphibians. Wetl Ecol Manag 22(5):551–564

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs JP (1998) Distribution of woodland amphibians along a forest fragmentation gradient. Landsc Ecol 13:263–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerry AD, Hunter ML (2002) Amphibian distributions in a landscape of forests and agriculture: an examination of landscape composition and configuration. Conserv Biol 16:745–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haggard JG (2000) A radio telemetric study of the movement patterns of adult northern red-legged frogs (Rana aurora aurora) at freshwater lagoon, Humbolt County, California. M.A. Thesis. Humbolt State University, Arcata

  • Hamer AJ, Parris KM (2011) Local and landscape determinants of amphibian communities in urban ponds. Ecol Appl 21:378–390

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton GB, Peterson CR, Wall WA (1998) Distribution and habitat relationships of amphibians on the Potlatch Corporation operating area in northern Idaho. Potlatch Corporation, Lewiston

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartup BK (1996) Rehabilitation of native reptiles and amphibians in DuPage County, Illinois. J Wildl Dis 32:109–112

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hatch AC, Blaustein AR (2003) Combined effects of UV-B radiation and nitrate fertilizer on larval amphibians. Ecol Appl 13(4):1083–1093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes MP, Quinn T, Richter KO, Schuett-Hames JP, Shean JS (2008) Maintaining lentic-breeding amphibians in urbanizing landscapes: the case study of the Northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora). In: Mitchell JC, Jung Brown RE, Bartholomew B (eds) Urban herpetology. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Salt Lake City, pp 445–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Henning JA, Schiraton G (2006) Amphibian use of Chehalis River floodplain wetlands. Northwest Nat 87:209–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs NT, Hilborn R (2006) Alternatives to statistical hypothesis testing in ecology: a guide to self teaching. Ecol Appl 16:5–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Homan RN, Windmiller BS, Reed JM (2004) Critical thresholds associated with habitat loss for two vernal pool-breeding amphibians. Ecol Appl 14:1547–1553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houlahan JE, Findlay CS (2003) The effects of adjacent land use on wetland amphibian species richness and community composition. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 60:1078–1094

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiesecker JM, Blaustein AR (1998) Effects of introduced bullfrogs and smallmouth bass on microhabitat use, growth, and survival of native red-legged frogs (Rana aurora). Conserv Biol 12:776–787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiesecker JM, Chivers DP, Anderson M, Blaustein AR (2002) Effect of predator diet on life history shifts of red-legged frogs, Rana aurora. J Chem Ecol 28:1007–1015

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Le Viol I, Chiron F, Julliard R, Kerbiriou C (2012) More amphibians than expected in highway stormwater ponds. Ecol Eng 47:146–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P, Legendre L (2012) Developments in environmental modeling. In: Legendre P, Legendre L (eds) Numerical ecology, 3rd edn. Elsevier, Quebec, pp 275–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemckert F, Mahony M (2011) The relationships among multiple-scale habitat variables and pond use by anurans in northern New South Wales, Australia. Herpetol Conserv Biol 5:537–547

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard WP, Brown HA, Jones LLC, McAllister KR, Storm RM (1993) Amphibians of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society, Trailside Series. Seattle Audubon Society, Seattle

    Google Scholar 

  • Licht LE (1975) Growth and food of larval Ambystoma gracile from a lowland population in southwestern British Columbia. Can J Zool 53:1716–1722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Licht LE (1992) The effect of food level on growth rate and frequency of metamorphosis and paedomorphosis in Ambystoma gracile. Can J Zool 70:87–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Llewellyn RL, Peterson CR (1998) Distribution, relative abundance, and habitat associations of amphibians and reptiles on Craig Mountain, Idaho. Idaho Bureau of Land Management, Technical Bulletin 98–15, Boise, Idaho

  • Marzluff JM, Ewing K (2001) Restoration of fragmented landscapes for the conservation of birds: a general framework and specific recommendations for urbanizing landscapes. Restor Ecol 9:280–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathias M (2008) Assessing functional connectivity for the northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora) in an urbanizing landscape. M.S. Thesis. University of Washington, Seattle

  • McCarthy MA (2009) Using models to compare the ecology of cities. In: McDonnell MJ, Hahs A (eds) The ecology of city and towns: a comparative approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 112–125

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2001) Effects of human population, area, and time on non-native plant and fish diversity in the United States. Biol Conserv 100:243–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2002) Urbanization, biodiversity, and conservation. Bioscience 52:883–890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monello RJ, Wright RG (1999) Amphibian habitat preferences among artificial ponds in the Palouse region of northern Idaho. J Herpetol 33:298–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muggeo VMR (2008) Segmented: an R package to fit regression models with broken-line relationships. R News 8(1):20–25

    Google Scholar 

  • NOAA (2016) Annual Climatological Summary. National Centers for Environmental Information. Station: PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, OR US COOP:356751. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/

  • Nussbaum RA, Brodie ED Jr, Storm RM (1983) Amphibians and reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Caxton, Caldwell

    Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Henry M, Stevens H, Wagner H (2012) Vegan: Community ecology package. R package version 2.0–3 Manual: http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/vegan/vegan.pdf

  • Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) Biodiversity Data. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center & NatureServe. Oregon Ecological Systems Database 2009. Available: http://orbic.pdx.edu/publications.html. July 6 2013

  • Ostergaard EC, Richter KO, West SD (2008) Amphibian use of stormwater ponds in the Puget lowlands of Washington, USA. In: Mitchell JC, Jung Brown RE, Bartholomew B (eds) Urban herpetology. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Salt Lake City, pp 259–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Parris KM (2006) Urban amphibian assemblages as metacommunities. J Anim Ecol 75:757–764

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pearl CA, Adams MJ, Leuthold N, Bury RB (2005) Amphibian occurrence and aquatic invaders in a changing landscape: implications for wetland mitigation in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. Wetlands 25:76–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peduzzi P, Concato J, Kemper E, Holford TR, Feinstein AR (1996) A simulation study of the number of events per variable in logistic regression analysis. J Clin Epidemiol 49:1373–1379

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pope SE, Fahrig L, Merriam HG (2000) Landscape complementation and metapopulation effects on leopard frog populations. Ecology 81:2498–2508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter KO, Azous AL (2000) Amphibian distribution, abundance, and habitat use. In: Azous A, Horner RR (eds) Wetlands and urbanization: implications for the future. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, pp 143–165

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ritson PI, Hayes MP (2000) Late season activity and overwintering in the northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora aurora). Final report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Portland State Office, Portland

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheffers BR, Paszkowski CA (2012) The effects of urbanization on North American amphibian species: identifying new directions for urban conservation. Urban Ecosyst 15:133–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheffers BR, Paszkowski CA (2013) Amphibian use of urban stormwater wetlands: the role of natural habitat features. Landsc Urban Plan 113:139–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuett-Hames JP (2004) Northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora aurora) terrestrial habitat use in the Puget Sound lowlands of Washington. M.S. Thesis. Olympia, The Evergreen State College

  • Semlitsch RD, Bodie JR (2003) Biological criteria for buffer zones around wetlands and riparian habitats for amphibians and reptiles. Conserv Biol 17:1219–1228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skelly DK (1995) A behavioral trade-off and its consequences for the distribution of Pseudacris treefrog larvae. Ecology 76:150–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skidds DE, Golet FC, Paton PW, Mitchell JC (2007) Habitat correlates of reproductive effort in wood frogs and spotted salamanders in an urbanizing watershed. J Herpetol 41:439–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snodgrass JW, Ackerman JW, Bryan AL Jr, Burger J (1999) Influence of hydroperiod, isolation, and heterospecifics on the distribution of aquatic salamanders (Siren and Amphiuma) among depression wetlands. Copeia 1999:107–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snodgrass JW, Komoroski MJ, Bryan AL Jr, Burger J (2000) Relationships among isolated wetland size, hydroperiod, and amphibian species richness: Implications for wetland regulation. Conserv Biol 14:414–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storm RM (1960) Notes on the breeding biology of the red-legged frog (Rana aurora aurora). Herpetologica 16:251–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Titus, JH, Christy JA, VanderSchaaf D, Kagan JS, Alverson ER (1996) Native wetland, riparian, and upland plant communities and their biota in the Willamette Valley, Oregon - Phase I Project: Inventory and Assessment Report to Environmental Protection Agency, Region X, Seattle, Washington Willamette Basin Geographic Initiative Program

  • U.S. Census Bureau (2007) State & county quickfacts: Allegany County, N.Y. Retrieved Feburary 15, 2014, from http://quickfacts.census.gov

  • Van Meter RJ, Swan CM, Snodgrass JW (2011) Salinization alters ecosystem structure in urban stormwater detention ponds. Urban Ecosyst 14(4):723–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, D’Antonio CM, Loope LL, Westbrooks R (1996) Biological invasions as global environmental change. Am Sci 84:468–478

    Google Scholar 

  • Watney GMS (1941) Notes on the life history of Ambystoma gracile. Copeia 1941:14–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA, Skelly DK, Werner EE (1996) Mechanisms creating community structure across a freshwater habitat gradient. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 27:337–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the City of Gresham Watershed Division for assisting the Natural Resource Program with collecting and assessing data on City ponds, wetlands and swales. In addition, City of Gresham Mapping Department assisted with GIS analyses and mapping. Special thanks to those who reviewed the manuscript and gave feedback: T. Brimecombe, C. Corkran, T. Curry, K. Holzer, K. Majidi, and Dr. J. Maser. M. Mims was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (Grant No. DGE-0718124).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Meryl C. Mims

    Present address: United States Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. City of Gresham, Natural Resources Program, 1333 NW Eastman Parkway, Gresham, OR, 97030, USA

    Laura B. Guderyahn

  2. Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    Ashley P. Smithers

  3. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Meryl C. Mims

Authors
  1. Laura B. Guderyahn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ashley P. Smithers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Meryl C. Mims
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura B. Guderyahn.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 4 Data, details, resolution, and source information for spatial and environmental data used to analyze local and landscape habitat variables
Full size table

Appendix 2

Table 5 Habitat associations of each species (WQF = manmade stormwater and/or flood control; Wetland = naturally occurring wetland)
Full size table

Appendix 3

Table 6 Results from Fisher’s Exact Test to compare observed (O) versus expected (E) occurrences for each species in manmade versus natural wetland breeding sites
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guderyahn, L.B., Smithers, A.P. & Mims, M.C. Assessing habitat requirements of pond-breeding amphibians in a highly urbanized landscape: implications for management. Urban Ecosyst 19, 1801–1821 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-016-0569-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-016-0569-6

Keywords

  • Amphibian habitat
  • Amphibian management
  • Habitat occupancy
  • Habitat threshold
  • Hydroperiod
  • Urban landscape