Impact of lakeshore development on green frog abundance

Many amphibian species exhibit metapopulation spatial dynamics and temporally are faced with local population extinction and re-colonization. These natural population fluctuations can exhibit stochastic effects when human-caused alteration and fragmentation of habitats occur during sensitive life-cycle events. In this study, we explored the effects of shoreline development on adult green frogs Rana clamitans melanota on lakes (n=24) of northern Wisconsin. We estimated green frog abundance using both auditory and direct observation surveys. The immediate shoreline habitat was mapped and placed into a Geographical Information System (GIS) for analysis. Adult green frog populations were significantly lower on lakes with varying degrees of shoreline house and cottage development than lakes with little or no development. A negative linear relationship existed between shoreline development densities and the number of adult green frogs. However, house and cottage densities alone did not directly explain this reduction. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) identified that the amount of suitable habitat, not development density, significantly affected green frog abundance. Therefore, greater development densities significantly decrease breeding habitat quality, resulting in lower adult frog abundance. These and other findings suggest that lakeshore development regulations are not protecting sensitive amphibian species.