Non-native Fish Introductions and the Decline of the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog from within Protected Areas
Knapp RA and Matthews KR. 2000. Non-native Fish Introductions and the Decline of the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog from within Protected Areas. Conservation Biology. 14(2):428-438
The authors quantified the role of introduced fishes in the decline of the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) in California's Sierra Nevada through surveys of >1700 sites in two adjacent and historically fishless protected areas that differed primarily in the distribution of introduced fish. Negative effects of fishes on the distribution of frogs were evident at three spatial scales: landscape, watershed and individual water bodies. The strong effect of introduced fishes on mountain yellow-legged frogs appears to result from the unique life history of this amphibian which frequently restricts larvae to deeper water bodies, the same habitats into which fishes have most frequently been introduced. The results suggest that the decline of the mountain yellow-legged frog might be relatively easy to reverse in at least some Sierra Nevada lakes through fish removals.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Knapp, Roland; Matthews, Kathleen
- Units
- SEKI , SIEN
- Keywords
- alpine lakes, Amphibians, Exotic Species, Fish, introduced fish, John Muir Wilderness, Kings Canyon National Park, mountain yellow-legged frog, Rana Muscosa, Sierra Nevada, Trout