In California, they could divide the frogs into two separate genetic groups. Some days, they sampled lakes next to roads, but other times they had to backpack for days to reach hidden lakes.Īfter analyzing the DNA in the tissue samples, they found that frogs in California had much lower overall genetic density than those they sampled in Oregon. The field survey experience was “pretty awesome and pretty unique,” Hardy said. Trekking through the rugged terrain of the Cascades and Klamath mountain ranges in 2016, the team collected genetic samples from hundreds of frogs at dozens of locations in Northern California and south central Oregon.Īdult female Cascades frog in Tehama County, California 2015. Hardy and his co-authors used genetics to analyze how well remaining populations were connected in Northern California compared to Oregon. “It’s estimated that frogs from about 95% of their historical locations in Northern California have declined since the ‘70s,” said Hardy, who was a master’s student at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee when he conducted a study on the frogs published in Animal Conservation. But chytrid disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has led to large-scale losses in numbers since the 1970s and 1980s. In California, the amphibians used to be relatively common. They are active from roughly May to September or October, when they burrow into the bottom of lakes or underneath the snow to hibernate. The frogs, palm-sized and brownish gold in color with dark spots, typically live in wet montane meadows from moderate to high altitudes. “It definitely warrants specific conservation actions.”Ĭascades frogs ( Rana cascadae) are found widely from Canada down to Northern California. “We know they’ve blinked out from a lot of locations in California,” said Bennett Hardy, a PhD student at Colorado State University. Imperiled cascades frogs in California may need to be managed as a distinct population at the southern end of the species’ range.
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