Digests Taxonomy Amphibians - Conservation Corridor

Amphibians

Maintaining connectivity between wetland and terrestrial habitat is key for amphibians that use both wetlands and forest at different life stages. Because amphibians are sensitive to temperature, corridors may be important for climate connectivity for amphibians. Previous research has found that connectivity benefits dispersal, disease resistance, and genetic diversity of amphibians.

Habitat fragmentation reduces amphibian defense against disease

Heather Cayton2026-06-04T11:04:06-04:00June 5th, 2026|

Surveys of four frog and toad species in Brazil's Atlantic Forest show that individuals in disconnected habitats are less likely to have protective skin bacteria that defend against the deadly chytrid fungus.

Wildlife underpasses reduce amphibian mortality

Heather Cayton2025-06-10T10:43:12-04:00June 9th, 2025|

Two underpasses constructed under a road in Vermont reduced overall amphibian mortality by 80% over seven years, with a 94% decrease in mortality of non-arboreal amphibians.

Effective and cost-efficient infrastructure planning that incorporates connectivity

Thomas Nuhfer2024-02-22T11:20:11-05:00September 18th, 2023|

Stakeholders at Tennessee's Oak Ridge Reservation successfully integrated salamander connectivity into existing plans for culvert replacement and upgrades, benefiting both management and conservation goals.

Classification	Publication	Year	Journal	Digest
Newt	Shifting protected areas: scheduling spatial priorities under climate change	2014	Journal of Applied Ecology	Allowing protected areas to come and go
Frog	Applying network theory to prioritize multi-species habitat networks that are robust to climate and land-use change	2017	Conservation Biology	Applying network theory to prioritize multi-species habitat networks that are robust to change
Salamander	Applying network theory to prioritize multi-species habitat networks that are robust to climate and land-use change	2017	Conservation Biology	Applying network theory to prioritize multi-species habitat networks that are robust to change
Salamander	Modelling the contribution of ephemeral wetlands to landscape connectivity	2020	Ecological Modelling	Contribution of ephemeral wetlands to landscape connectivity
Frog	Habitat connectivity and resident shared predators determine the impact of invasive bullfrogs on native frogs in farm ponds	2014	Proceedings of the Royal Society B	Habitat connectivity impacts interactions between native and invasive species
Toad	Comparing linkage designs based on land facets to linkage designs based on focal species	2012	PLoS ONE
Salamander	Habitat corridors facilitate genetic resilience irrespective of species dispersal abilities or population sizes	2015	Evolutionary Applications	Corridor design and quality impact genetic resilience across populations
Frog	Characterizing the width of amphibian movements during postbreeding migration	2014	Conservation Biology	Determining corridor width
Salamander	Characterizing the width of amphibian movements during postbreeding migration	2014	Conservation Biology	Determining corridor width
Toad	A stochastic movement simulator improves estimates of landscape connectivity	2015	Ecology
Frog	Using nested connectivity models to resolve management conflicts of isolated water networks in the Sonoran Desert	2017	Ecosphere
Newt	Analysis of climate paths reveals potential limitations on species range shifts	2011	Ecology Letters
Frog	Analysis of climate paths reveals potential limitations on species range shifts	2011	Ecology Letters
Salamander	Analysis of climate paths reveals potential limitations on species range shifts	2011	Ecology Letters
Frog	Network modularity reveals critical scales for connectivity in ecology and evolution	2013	Nature Communications	Identifying scales of connectivity using network modularity
Frog	Refugia and connectivity sustain amphibian metapopulations afflicted by disease	2015	Ecology Letters	Does increased connectivity help spread disease?
Toad	Use of stress-hormone levels and habitat selection to assess functional connectivity of a landscape for an amphibian	2012	Conservation Biology	Assessing connectivity using stress hormones
Amphibian biodiversity	Global patterns of terrestrial vertebrate diversity and conservations	2013	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences	Predicting the future movement routes of 3000 species
Salamander	Landscape connectivity for wildlife: development and validation of multispecies linkage maps	2014	Methods in Ecology and Evolution	Digests for Debate: Single vs. Multispecies Connectivity
Frog	Landscape connectivity for wildlife: development and validation of multispecies linkage maps	2014	Methods in Ecology and Evolution	Digests for Debate: Single vs. Multispecies Connectivity
Multiple species	Conservation planning with uncertain climate change projections	2013	PLoS ONE	Conservation planning when climate change projections are uncertain
Multiple species	Projected climate-driven faunal movement rates	2013	Ecology Letters
Salamander	Assessing the efficacy of wildlife underpasses in mitigating amphibian road mortality: A case study from the northeastern United States	2025	Journal for Nature Conservation	Wildlife underpasses reduce amphibian mortality
Salamander	A vector approach for modeling landscape corridors and habitat connectivity	2015	Environmental Modeling and Assessment
Frog	Connecting habitats, boosting disease resistance: Spatial connectivity enhances amphibian microbiome defenses against fungal pathogen	2026	PNAS	Habitat fragmentation reduces amphibian defense against disease
Frog	Evaluating connectivity for tropical amphibians using empirically derived resistance surfaces	2015	Ecological Applications
Frog	Emergent properties of species-habitat networks in an insular forest landscape	2022	Science Advances	Scaling up the impacts of habitat fragmentation to the entire landscape
Frog	Reptiles and frogs conform to multiple conceptual landscape models in an agricultural landscape	2017	Diversity and Distributions	Five landscape conceptual models are put to the test
Multiple species	Large-scale habitat corridors for biodiversity conservation: a forest corridor in Madagascar	2015	PLoS ONE	Coupling field surveys, forest mapping, and simulation models to understand the future of a Madagascar corridor
Multiple species	Integrating climate-change refugia into 30x30	2023	Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment	Integrating climate-change refugia into 30×30
Frog	Brushwood removal from ditch banks attracts breeding frogs in drained forests	2017	Forest Ecology and Management	Want to keep frogs around? Let the sunshine in.
Salamander	Pooling biodiversity offsets to improve habitat connectivity and species conservation	2021	Journal of Environmental Management
Toad	Identifying optimal barriers to halt the invasion of cane toads Rhinella marina in arid Australia	2013	Journal of Applied Ecology	Halting invasive species along a sensitive corridor
Frog	The role of reserves and anthropogenic habitats for functional connectivity and resilience of ephemeral wetlands	2014	Ecological Applications	Mapping functional wetland connectivity across reserves and anthropogenic habitats
Toad	The role of reserves and anthropogenic habitats for functional connectivity and resilience of ephemeral wetlands	2014	Ecological Applications	Mapping functional wetland connectivity across reserves and anthropogenic habitats
Salamander	Tracking climate change in a dispersal-limited species: reduced spatial and genetic connectivity in a montane salamander	2013	Molecular Ecology	Slow-moving sensitive species offer clues to the future through the past
Salamander	Advancing wildlife connectivity in land use planning: a case study with four-toed salamanders	2023	The Journal of Wildlife Management	Effective and cost-efficient infrastructure planning that incorporates connectivity
Multiple species	Climate change vulnerability of terrestrial vertebrates in a major refuge and dispersal corridor in North America	2022	Diversity and Distributions	Species vulnerable to climate change in the Appalachian forest corridor

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Map of Digests

Where is connectivity research happening near you?

Search our interactive map for hundreds of research summaries on connectivity and corridors, covering over three decades of publications.

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Hampshire	2026	SB592	Enables regional, conservation, and energy resource planning for habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors
New Hampshire	2019	SB200	Requires the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to consider fish and wildlife crossings and mitigation measures in all future road and culvert projects
New Hampshire	2016	SB376	Requires the fish and game department to identify existing and needed wildlife corridors connecting wildlife habitats in the state and to make recommendations for legislative changes

State	Year	Policy	Description
Maine	2023	LD258	Appropriates $7.5 million to Department of Transportation to improve roadways with potential adaptations for wildlife
Maine	2023	LD1881	Establishes compensation fee program relating to fish and wildlife habitats and associated corridors, including compensation paid by solar energy development
Maine	2023	LD508	Requires Department of Environmental Protection to review its permitting laws concerning climate change, habitat connectivity, ecological resilience, and coastal environments

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Jersey	2025	S3618	Directs state agencies to develop a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Jersey	2024	S3916/A5486	Expands eligibility for existing wildlife fencing programs by including farmers leasing farmland
New Jersey	2007	NJAC7:13	Requires the state to incorporate wildlife crossings or a natural bank for terrestrial threatened and endangered species and/or species of concern when a new bridge or culvert project would cause habitat fragmentation

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Mexico	2023	SB72	Appropriates money to new Wildlife Corridors Fund for implementation of wildlife crossing projects under New Mexico Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Mexico	2022	HB 2	Allocates funding for projects to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and allows the Department of Transportation and Department of Game to implement their Wildlife Corridors Action Plan
New Mexico	2019	SB 228	Requires the creation of a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan that includes comprehensive guidance to agencies for identifying, prioritizing and maintaining important areas for wildlife movement

State	Year	Policy	Description
Washington	2023	HB1216/SB5196	Requires Department of Ecology to prepare environmental impact statements for clean energy projects that consider impacts to habitat connectivity and wildlife migration corridors
Washington	2022	SB5689	Provides funding for US 97 Wildlife Crossing Improvements project
Washington	2019	SEO 1031.02	Recognizes the effect of roadways in creating barriers to wildlife movement, breeding, and migrations; the Washington State Department of Transportation will promote and support Practical Solutions and Planning and Environmental Linkages to integrate habitat connectivity and biodiversity plans; will make use of the highway prioritization map known as Habitat Connectivity Investment Priorities; and will corporate and coordinate with other agencies involved in wildlife habitat protection, specifically along highways

Connecting Science to Conservation

Amphibians

Habitat fragmentation reduces amphibian defense against disease

Wildlife underpasses reduce amphibian mortality

Effective and cost-efficient infrastructure planning that incorporates connectivity

Search available publications by classification:

State	Year	Policy	Description
Florida	2024	SB1638	Dedicates annual funding to land purchases, conservation easements, and trail maintenance within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	HB1379	Creates annual appropriation to acquire lands that complete certain linkages and are under high population stress within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	SB2500 sec.146	Provides funding to buy Ocala to Osceola (“O2O”) Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2021	SB976	Tasks state agencies with maintaining wildlife connectivity and designates Florida Wildlife Corridor as an existing physical, geographically defined area
Florida	2021	SB2500	Appropriates $300 million to acquire lands to conserve Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2019	SB7068	Creates a "Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance Program" that includes protection of wildlife corridors as an intended benefit
Florida	2008	SB542	Amends Florida Forever Act statues to include goals of connecting linkage corridors
Florida	2001	SB1468	Amends Florida Forever Act to establish that land acquisitions should include complete landscape linkages and corridors
Florida	1999	S908	Creates Florida Forever Program, with increased protection of lands that protect threatened or endangered species and plans to create a statewide system of connected landscape linkages