Reproductive Ecology and Hybridization of the Endangered Houston Toad (Bufo houstonensis)

1984 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Hillis ◽  
Ann M. Hillis ◽  
Robert F. Martin
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa C. Jones ◽  
Donald J. Brown ◽  
Ivan Mali ◽  
Audrey McKinney ◽  
Michael R. J. Forstner

1984 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Thomas ◽  
Steven A. Nadler ◽  
W. Lynn Jagers

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa C. Jones ◽  
James R. Dixon ◽  
Michael R. J. Forstner

1991 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan K. Jacobson ◽  
John J. Vandenberg

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Duarte ◽  
Donald J. Brown ◽  
Michael R.J. Forstner

Abstract The Houston toad Bufo (Anaxyrus) houstonensis is a federally endangered amphibian endemic to east central Texas and is primarily found in the Lost Pines ecoregion. In 2010, we became cautiously optimistic regarding the recovery of the species on the Griffith League Ranch, one of the toad's primary recovery sites, after an unusually successful reproductive season. Subsequently, the extreme drought throughout Texas deepened, culminating in the fall 2011 high-severity wildfires throughout the Lost Pines ecoregion. After the drought and wildfires, we continued to intensively monitor Houston toads via anuran call surveys, drift fence arrays, and visual observations of reproduction. Our objective was to investigate the dynamics of the Houston toad population on the Griffith League Ranch during these dramatic impacts to its habitat and to discuss the potential for Houston toad recovery in the ecoregion. In summary, both a simulation model and our field monitoring data suggest the Houston toad population on the Griffith League Ranch is at critically low numbers and may be extirpated in the near future if human-mediated recovery strategies are not continued and refined. We do not discern any evidence to suggest the 2011 wildfires have had any direct detrimental impacts on subsequent Houston toad population dynamics. Still, high-resolution data will be needed in the future to quantify how the wildfires affected Houston toad viability over the medium and long term.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Duarte ◽  
Donald J. Brown ◽  
Michael R.J. Forstner

Abstract The Griffith League Ranch is one of the primary recovery sites for the endangered Houston toad Bufo (Anaxyrus) houstonensis. New recovery initiatives have recently been implemented to increase Houston toad abundance; however, no robust estimate of population size has been conducted in the last decade of study, nor from this recovery site. To assist with inferences regarding efficacy of current and future management actions, we estimated adult Houston toad abundance on the Griffith League Ranch. Houston toads were sampled at breeding ponds during the 2010 breeding season using a mark–recapture methodology. We analyzed the data using a modified Jolly–Seber open population model in Program MARK. Models were built whereby the probability of capture remained constant, the apparent survival varied with time or was constant, and the probability of entry varied with time. Model averaging was used to account for uncertainty and the derived adult male Houston toad abundance ranged from 201 to 307 individuals. Using a previously determined Griffith League Ranch Houston toad functional sex ratio of 5∶1, we estimated the abundance of the total adult Houston toad population on this primary recovery site to be from 241 to 368 individuals. This study is the first to report a robust abundance estimate of a Houston toad population and provides a foundation for further research to quantify the impact of current and future management actions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-249
Author(s):  
Ren Mingxun ◽  
Jiang Xinhua ◽  
Zhang Dayong

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