Latest ResearchBig leaps for frogs: Birds Canada monitors marsh birds and frogs in a unified effort to conserve Great Lakes wetlands. Two recent studies help us achieve this. In the first-ever Great Lakes-wide analysis of its kind (1 below), Birds Canada staff and colleagues show that some, but not all, frog species have stable populations in shoreline wetlands around the lakes, despite extensive threats, stressors and habitat loss. The conclusion: to prevent species declines, further wetland restoration is needed, such as improving water quality and restoring surrounding natural uplands. And based on data supplied by the Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program delivered by Birds Canada (2 below), scientists at the University of Waterloo in Ontario have developed a much-needed tool for measuring just how lethal vehicle traffic is for frogs. According to the study, when frogs travel overland away from wetlands, as they often do for a variety of reasons, their chances of surviving diminish to nearly zero after only a couple of kilometres through heavily urban-dominated areas (yikes!). With these two authoritative sources of information in hand, Birds Canada and our partners are now in a better position to protect and conserve high-quality wetlands that frogs (and birds!) (and people!) need to thrive. 1.Occurrence patterns and trends of frogs in coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes call for further habitat restoration Research from Doug Tozer, PhD, Director Waterbirds and Wetlands, and Danielle Ethier, PhD, Senior Scientist, Birds Canada, and 16 wonderful colleagues 2.A tool for modelling anuran landscape connectivity through road crossing survival Research from Dorian Pomezanski and Mark Zietara, University of Waterloo
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