Research Objectives for Toxics and NRP Program Scientists
(1) To integrate information on hydrologic
factors into the interpretations of amphibian population status
and trends. Many of the potential stresses to amphibians are related
to climate or water quality. Climate-related stressors include extreme
weather events like a drought or flood and related conditions; minimum
winter temperatures; and the amount of incident ultraviolet radiation.
Many amphibians are sensitive to water-quality conditions, including
low pH, high selenium concentration, the presence of pesticides
and nitrate, and the quality of dissolved organic carbon, which
controls UV light penetration. The source of water for a particular
habitat is also likely to be very important. Identification of the
dominant source (such as groundwater or rainfall) of water at ARMI
amphibian monitoring locations will help identify which habitats
are more sensitive to climatic variability and which sites would
be most likely to be contaminated by human activities.
(2) To collect information on habitat characterization,
candidate stressors, climate, and other hydrologic factors that
influence amphibian life cycles.
USGS hydrologists and herpetologists will work together
to identify sites suitable for ARMI amphibian population studies
and inventories, and to determine the most important hydrologic
variables to quantify at monitoring sites.
(3) To establish a base line of hydrologic information
at sites were long-term amphibian monitoring will be conducted.
USGS hydrologists will begin to collect a baseline
of information that is needed to gain an understanding of how amphibian
populations vary with changing hydrologic conditions.
(4) To provide a flexible framework for national
interpretation of regional data.
ARMI hydrologists will use consistent data-collection
protocols and methods so that data collected at the local or regional
scale can be used to make national scale interpretations.
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