Habitat of Lowland Leopard Frogs (Rana Yavapaiensis) in Mountain Canyons of Southeastern Arizona - Final Report

Wallace, J.

Lowland leopard frogs are a medium-sized aquatic frog distributed from southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico to northwestern Mexico that inhabit low to mid-elevation perennial rivers, streams, springs, and livestock impoundments. The geographic range of lowland leopard frogs has contracted and their populations have declined in the U.S Lowland leopard frogs no longer inhabit many of the valley-bottom environments where they were once abundant, as many of these areas have been degraded or destroyed, or into which nonnative species such as fish, bullfrogs and crayfish have been introduced. A pathogenic fungus, implicated in amphibian declines worldwide, also has been identified in lowland leopard frogs. Lowland leopard frogs are classified as a Sensitive Species by the U.S. Forest Service and a Species of Special Concern by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD In Prep), therefore resource managers have sought increasingly to conserve and manage this species and the small, isolated aquatic environments where they persist. In order to do this successfully, lowland leopard frog habitats must be characterized and clearly defined so that conservation efforts, such as maintenance of existing habitats or identification and prioritization of potential translocation sites are better informed. To identify habitat characteristics essential to developing relevant conservation and management strategies for lowland leopard frogs, we surveyed mountain canyon in southeastern Arizona and compared habitat characteristics between canyons and pools inhabited by frogs to those not inhabited by frogs.