{"id":30741,"date":"2020-04-24T11:38:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T15:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/?p=30741"},"modified":"2020-04-27T10:35:01","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T14:35:01","slug":"uga-researcher-goes-on-a-wild-gopher-frog-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/uga-researcher-goes-on-a-wild-gopher-frog-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"UGA researcher goes on a wild gopher frog chase"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]University of Georgia researcher Stacey Lance is working to identify suitable habitat for Carolina gopher frogs, a species identified as endangered in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and to survey existing populations on private lands. Lance, an associate research scientist with the River Basin Center and Savannah River Ecology Lab<\/a>, is working in a partnership with The Longleaf Alliance<\/a>, a group dedicated to ensuring a sustainable future for the longleaf pine ecosystem in the southeastern United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this research, we hope to gain a better understanding of the status of gopher frogs in South Carolina and a sense of potential locations for reintroduction sites,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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UGA research scientist Stacey Lance (Photo courtesy of Stacey Lance)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The search for gopher frogs takes place on plantations and private lands throughout South Carolina, in longleaf pine ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longleaf ecosystem is a magnificent landscape\u2014especially when managed well into a true savanna. It is home to many endemic species that make areas with this historic ecosystem unique,\u201d said Lisa Lord, conservation programs director with the Longleaf Alliance. \u201cBut while there are huge efforts underway to restore the uplands back to what they used to be, the wetlands have been forgotten and are home to several at-risk amphibians, including the Carolina gopher frog, that are found nowhere else in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

To determine the extent of gopher frog populations, the researchers used two tactics: visual searches for egg masses during the gopher frog\u2019s breeding season in the wetlands on private lands around South Carolina, and if they didn\u2019t have any luck spotting egg masses, DNA analysis of the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe collect 250 mL of water from four locations in the wetland, filter that water, then extract DNA from the filter. With that DNA we use a quantitative PCR approach specific to gopher frogs and determine if there was gopher frog DNA present, and if so, in what quantities,\u201d Lance explained.<\/p>\n

\"photo
A water filter\/pump set up at Lance’s home lab (Photo courtesy of Stacey Lance)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This research started in an unusual place: on the runway at Augusta Regional Airport, when two researchers recognized each other on a plane. Lance and Robert Abernethy, the recently retired president of The Longleaf Alliance, swapped seats to chat during a delay and came away with a new project idea.<\/p>\n

And now it continues in another odd place\u2014Lance\u2019s living room, where she\u2019s now sterilizing sampling equipment and filtering the water prior to DNA extractions in a bid to overcome the challenges presented by the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

From face-to-face conversations on planes to solitary work from living rooms and in wetlands, the search for gopher frog populations has persevered. These measures, in addition to the difficulties of searching for one dwindling species of frog throughout an entire state, have presented the researchers with a special challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween a map of historic range and a habitat suitability map for gopher frogs, we\u2019re left with an enormous area that we have to somehow whittle down to decide where to focus our efforts,\u201d Lance said. \u201cAn additional challenge is envisioning what the property looked like in the past\u2014maybe the wetlands and uplands look good, but we know that there are new management practices that may have recently improved the habitat. Or the uplands look great, while the wetlands are fully encroached. Meanwhile, we honestly don\u2019t know enough about gopher frogs to know where they\u2019re most likely to have been able to hang on all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, the researchers have seen glimmers of hope for how they can help the next generation of gopher frogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now getting into headstarting of gopher frogs. This has been done in North Carolina and Georgia, and while they are very successful at rearing tadpoles to metamorphosis in captivity, the released frogs have very low survival rates,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will be exploring ways that the aquatic larval environment may lead to metamorphs that have higher survival and also ways to have juvenile rearing in the field, as a sort of soft release with different treatments such as increased refugia, predator exclusions, supplemental feeding, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through this research, Lance and partners hope to be able to eventually reintroduce gopher frogs to longleaf pine wetlands, and then assess their success through DNA analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is to answer some basic questions about how early life environments may shape later phenotypes in species with complex life cycles and to use our findings to get to the point where we can have successful reintroductions,\u201d Lance explained. \u201cWe\u2019ll also be using genetic techniques to determine the effective population size of remaining populations, and to assess whether released animals successfully reproduce.\u201d<\/p>\n

This research will also contribute to gopher frog conservation in another way: It will be used in a report being written by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the gopher frog goes up for federal listing in 2025.<\/p>\n

This research was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program<\/a> and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation<\/a>, through The Longleaf Alliance.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]University of Georgia researcher Stacey Lance is working to identify suitable habitat for Carolina gopher frogs, a species identified as endangered in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and to survey existing populations on private lands. Lance, an associate research scientist with the River Basin Center and Savannah River Ecology Lab, is working in a partnership … <\/p>\n

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