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Evaluating the Effects of Land Use on Headwater Wetland Amphibian Assemblages in Coastal Alabama

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Abstract

Anthropogenic land use is known to impact aquatic ecosystems in several ways, including increased frequency and intensity of floods, stream channel incision, sedimentation, and loss of microtopography. Amphibians are susceptible to changes in wetland and surrounding habitats. This study evaluated amphibian assemblages of fifteen headwater slope wetlands in coastal Alabama across a gradient of land uses. Amphibians were surveyed on a seasonal basis and land use was delineated within wetland watersheds and within a 200-m buffer surrounding each wetland. Amphibian presence/absence and land use data were used to develop species occupancy models. Both urban and agricultural land use were shown to influence amphibian occurrence. Species richness ranged from five to ten species across sites; however, five species only occurred in wetlands surrounded by forested lands. Many species were detected more frequently on these wetlands compared to wetlands surrounded by urban or mixed land uses. Occupancy models showed Acris gryllus was negatively associated with the amount of agriculture within a buffer around the wetland. Hyla squirella, Lithobates clamitans, and L. sphenocephalus were positively associated with agricultural land within a watershed. Anaxyrus terrestris and the non-native Eleutherodactylus planirostris were positively associated with the amount of impervious surface area within the wetland buffer.

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Acknowledgments

An Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Hatch Grant and the Auburn University Center for Forest Sustainability provided funding for this project. The USGS Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit provided equipment. Flynt Barksdale, Betsy Battistella, Cody Cox, Mignon Denton, Amber Dunn, the Guyer Lab, Tom Hess, Heather Hughes, Scott Phipps, Christina Romagosa, Brad Schneid, Amir Sharifi, Amy Silvano, Todd Steury, and Madeline Wedge all provided assistance on this project. We graciously acknowledge land access that was granted by Alabama State Parks, The City of Foley, The Nature Conservancy, Town of Robertsdale, Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and many private landowners. An earlier version of this manuscript was greatly improved by the review and suggestions of Robert Gitzen. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This study was performed under the auspices of Auburn University IACUC protocol # 2010–1827.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, 602 Duncan Drive, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Diane M. Alix & Christopher J. Anderson

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    James B. Grand

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Craig Guyer

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  1. Diane M. Alix
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  2. Christopher J. Anderson
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  3. James B. Grand
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  4. Craig Guyer
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Correspondence to Diane M. Alix.

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Alix, D.M., Anderson, C.J., Grand, J.B. et al. Evaluating the Effects of Land Use on Headwater Wetland Amphibian Assemblages in Coastal Alabama. Wetlands 34, 917–926 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-014-0553-y

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