title: Trends in amphibian occupancy in the United States.
abstract: Though a third of amphibian species worldwide are thought to be imperiled, existing assessments simply categorize extinction risk, providing little information on the rate of population losses. We conducted the first analysis of the rate of change in the probability that amphibians occupy ponds and other comparable habitat features across the United States. We found that overall occupancy by amphibians declined 3.7% annually from 2002 to 2011. Species that are Red-listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declined an average of 11.6% annually. All subsets of data examined had a declining trend including species in the IUCN Least Concern category. This analysis suggests that amphibian declines may be more widespread and severe than previously realized.
authors.affiliation: United States Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: David A W
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muths
authors.forename: Paul Stephen
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Corn
authors.forename: Evan H Campbell
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Larissa L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Gary M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fellers
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Walter J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Sadinski
authors.forename: Hardin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Waddle
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Walls
mesh_terms: D000663:Amphibians; D000818:Animals; D014481:United States