Without american bullfrogs, native pond turtles increase at national park.
Without american bullfrogs, native pond turtles increase at national park.
The call of American bullfrogs was deafening when scientists from the University of California, Davis, first began researching the impact of invasive bullfrogs on native northwestern pond turtles at Yosemite National Park.
“At night, you could look out over the pond and see a constellation of eyes blinking back at you,” said UC Davis Ph.D. candidate Sidney Woodruff, lead author of a study chronicling the effects of removal. “Their honking noise is iconic, and it drowns out native species’ calls.”
But the ponds of Yosemite sound different today, with a chorus of native species making themselves heard. The researchers’ study, published in the May issue of the journal Biological Conservation, found that as the park was depopulated of bullfrogs, northwestern pond turtles began to return. The study suggests that removing invasive bullfrogs may be necessary in priority conservation areas to help pond turtle populations recover.
Read more at University of California - Davis
Image: Sidney Woodruff of UC Davis holds a northwestern pond turtle at their field site in Yosemite. (Credit: Courtesy Sidney Woodruff)
