2. Talk will be available at Lab Website Google: Skelly Yale

3. Global Amphibian Decline

4. Take Home Points Upland Conversion Eliminates Amphibian Populations Isolation Fosters Extinction Most Amphibians Are Specialists –Successful conservation requires a diversity of dynamic wetlands Context Matters.

5. Yale Forest TollandManchester 0.3 inds / ha* 1.3 inds / ha7.8 inds / ha 85% Forested 78% Forested37% Forested 5% Impervious 8% Impervious20% Impervious

6. Species Disappear from Developed Wetlands Skelly Unpublished Lost Diversity Across 60 Connecticut Wetlands

7. Gibbs 2000 Land Conversion: Wetland Size & Isolation

8. Land Conversion: Wetland Isolation Gibbs 2000

9. Land Conversion: Wetland Isolation Gibbs 2000

10. Fragmentation: ‘Rural’ to Urban Transect 10 x 2 km Orange, CT 295 People/sq km Milford, CT 846 People/sq km Gibbs 1998

11. Fragmentation: ‘Rural’ to Urban Gibbs 1998

12. Fragmentation Leads to Local Extinction Gibbs 1998 Species Loss In Intact Forest Patches Species Differ

13. Species are frequently missing from vernal ponds in deforested landscapes Homan et al. 2004 % of ponds occupied by spotted salamanders is higher when uplands are intact forest

14. Isolated Wetlands are less likely to have persistent amphibian populations Skelly et al. 1999

15. Whole Pond Experiment: Yale-Myers Forest Manipulated canopy in 6 wetlands in late 2001 then monitor population & community Responses At each wetland: ca. 25 overstory stems removed on S upland

16. Canopy & Temperature Open Closed

17. Reduced Canopy Tends to Increase Number of Species Skelly Unpublished Following Cut in late 2001, new species have tended to move into Cut ponds.

18. Altered Canopy Does Not Affect Wood Frog Abundance Skelly Unpublished Following Cut in late 2001, wood frogs have remained abundant

19. Spotted Salamanders May be Even More Abundant with Altered Canopy Skelly Unpublished Following Cut in late 2001, spotted salamanders may have Increased.

20. Amphibians as Canopy Specialists Threshold – Most Species Generalist – Few Species

21. Most species that can tolerate low light can occupy more wetlands Data for 8 Species

22. Spotted Salamander Marbled SalamanderAmerican Toad Closed Canopy Specialist Open Canopy Specialist Canopy Generalist No single wetland type provides habitat for all amphibian species

23. How can we conserve Wetland Dwellers? Protect Wetland and Upland Units Develop Proactive Landscape Level Plans Avoid Use of Mitigated Wetlands –Bigger is not better –Stormwater catchments are typically poor habitats Allow/Foster Wetland Dynamics –Wetland Diversity in Space and Time –Beaver –Selective Cutting

24. Take Home Points Upland Conversion Eliminates Amphibian Populations Isolation Fosters Extinction Most Amphibians Are Specialists –Need a diversity of dynamic wetlands Context Matters.

25. Amazon.com Sales Rank: #202,658

26. References Gibbs JP 1998. Distribution of woodland amphibians along a forest fragmentation gradient Landscape Ecology 13: 263-268. Gibbs JP 2000. Wetland loss and biodiversity conservation Conservation Biology 14: 314-317. Halverson, M. A., D. K. Skelly, J. M. Kiesecker, and L. K. Freidenburg. 2003. Forest mediated light regime linked to amphibian distribution and performance. Oecologia 134:360-364. Semlitsch RD 2000. Principles for management of aquatic-breeding amphibians Journal of Wildlife Management 64: 615-631. Semlitsch RD, Bodie JR 2003. Biological criteria for buffer zones around wetlands and riparian habitats for amphibians and reptiles Conservation Biology 17: 1219-1228. Semlitsch, R. D. and D. K. Skelly. 2007. Ecology and conservation of pool breeding amphibians. Pages 127-148 in Vernal Pools: Ecology and Conservation of Seasonal Wetlands in Northeastern North America (A. Calhoun and P. deMaynadier, Editors). CRC Press. ISBN 0849336759 Skelly, D. K., E. E. Werner, and S. A. Cortwright. 1999. Long-term distributional dynamics of a Michigan amphibian assemblage. Ecology 80:2326-2337. Skelly, D. K., M.A. Halverson, L. K. Freidenburg, and M. C. Urban. 2005. Canopy and amphibian biodiversity in forested wetlands. Wetland Ecology & Management. in press.