Trends in amphibian occupancy in the United States

PLoS ONE
By: , and 

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Abstract

Though a third of amphibian species worldwide are thought to be imperiled, existing assessments simply categorize extinction risk, providing little information on the rate of population losses. We conducted the first analysis of the rate of change in the probability that amphibians occupy ponds and other comparable habitat features across the United States. We found that overall occupancy by amphibians declined 3.7% annually from 2002 to 2011. Species that are Red-listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declined an average of 11.6% annually. All subsets of data examined had a declining trend including species in the IUCN Least Concern category. This analysis suggests that amphibian declines may be more widespread and severe than previously realized.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Trends in amphibian occupancy in the United States
Series title PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0064347
Volume 8
Issue 5
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher Public Library of Science
Contributing office(s) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Description e64347; 5 p.
Country United States
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