The Need to Move: Exploring Landscape Connectivity through the Eyes of the Northern Leopard Frog
Year: 2017
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens) is a species that depends on landscape connectivity to complete its lifecycle. However, due to historic and present anthropogenic landscape changes, this species encounters a variety of agriculture fields during migratory and dispersal movements. These landscape changes have potential to affect habitat connectivity for these frogs and may interfere with the species? life-cycle needs. Differing land-cover types have varying effects on movement, desiccation and predation of the northern leopard frog, which in turn affect the frog?s ability to survive. Through creation and use of an agent-based model that can simulate individual frog movement on a modeled landscape, I explored habitat connectivity in the prairie-pothole region. I used northern leopard frog movement and desiccation data collected from two summers of field work to inform my modeled scenarios. The model I developed allows for the exploration of habitat connectivity under various patterns of land-cover change.
Author: Heather Lynn Inczauskis
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
Funder: U.S. Geological Survey
OpenAlex ID: W2730858544