Our Ijvinii Rt'soiini's — Rci^iUw and Ainpluhuius 



IM 



urbanization (Delis 1993), but the long-term 

 effects of the change are unknown. The overall 

 status of the Red Hills salamander (federal 

 threatened list) remained the same from 1976 to 

 198S (Dodd 1991 ), although habitat loss contin- 

 ued from plantation forestry. Virtually no data 

 exist for tenestrial reptile populations or com- 

 munities except for the gopher tortoise. 

 Anecdotal information for all tenestrial reptiles 

 suggests population declines, particularly in 

 areas affected by imported red fire ants 

 {Solt'iiopsis iiivicUi). 



Local centers of amphibian and reptile diver- 

 sity need to be identified within the remaining 

 longleaf pine community. Surveys, basic life- 

 history studies of sensitive species, and long- 

 term monitoring of amphibian and reptile popu- 

 lations need to be initiated. Many species that 

 are restricted to wetland and upland habitats 

 appear to be declining, but precise baseline data 

 are lacking. Factors impeding the identification 

 of population trends include the longevity of 

 many species, the effects of periodic natural 

 events such as drought, and what appear to be 

 random population fluctuations. At the same 

 lime, when the known extent of habitat loss is 

 coupled with declining trends elsewhere 

 (Blaustein and Wake 1990; Wyman 1990) that 

 result from unknown or hypothesized causes 

 (UVB light, acidity, heavy metals, estrogen- 

 mimicking compi>unds, roads, habitat fragmen- 

 tation), the study and monitoring of amphibian 

 and reptile populations in remnant southeastern 

 longleaf pine forests will become especially 

 imperative. 



References 



Auffenberg. W.. and R. Franz. 1982. The status and distrib- 

 ution of tlie gopher tortoise {Gopherus polyphemus). 



North American tortois- 

 ll.-S. Fish and Wildlife 



Pages 95- 1 26 in R.B. Bury, cd 



es: conservation and ecology. 



Service Res. Rep. 12. 

 Blaustein, A.R., and D.B. Wake. 1990. Declining amphibian 



populations: a glotial phenomenon? Trends in Ideology 



and Evolution .');2(13-2()4. 

 Cerulean, S.I. 1991. The preservation 2(100 report. Flonda's 



natural areas — what have we got to lose'.' The Nature 



Conservancy. Winter Park, PL. 74 pp. 

 Delis, PR. 1993. Effects of urbanization on the community 



of anurans of a pine fiatwood habitat in west central 



Florida. M.S. thesis. University of South Florida. 



Tampa. 47 pp. 

 Dodd. C.K., Jr 1991. The status of the Red Hills salaman- 

 der Pluu-ognarhns hiibrichri. Alabama, USA, 1976- 1 98S. 



Biological Conservation 55:57-75. 

 Dodd, C.K.. Jr 1992. Biological diversity of a temporary 



pond herpetofauna in north Florida sandhills. 



Biodiversity and Conservation 1:125-142, 

 Dodd. C.K.. Jn 1993. Distribution of striped newts 



iNoiophllialmiis perstriatus) in Georgia. Report to U.S. 



Fish and Wildlife Service, Jacksonville, FL. 52 pp. 

 Jackson, D.R., and E.G. Milstrey. 1989. The fauna of 



gopher tortoise burrows. Florida Nongame Wildlife 



Program Tech. Rep. 5:86-98. 

 Johnson, T.G. 1988. Forest statistics for southeast Georgia. 



1988. USDA Forest Service Resour Bull. SE-104. \53 



PP- 

 Means, D.B., and G. Grow. 1985. The endangered longleaf 



pine community. ENFO (Florida Conservation 



Foundation) Sept: 1-12. 

 Noss, R.F. 1989. Longleaf pine and wircgrass: keystone 



components of an endangered ecosystem. Natural Areas 



Journal 9:21 1-213. 

 Pechmann, J.H.K., D.E. Scou. R.D. Semlitsch. J.P 



Caldwell, L.J. Vitt, and J.W. Gibbons. 1991. Declining 



amphibian populations: the problem of separating human 



impacts from natural tluctuations. Science 253:892-895. 

 Ware. S., C. Frost, and PD. Doerr. 1993. Southern mixed 



hardwood forest: the former longleaf pine forest. Pages 



447-493 //) W.H. Manin, S.G. Boyce. and Ar. 



Echtemacht, eds. Biodiversity of the southeastern United 



States. Lowland terrestrial communities. John Wiley and 



Sons, New York. 

 Wyman, R.L. 1990. What's happening to the amphibians? 



Conservation Biology 4:350-352. 



For further information: 



C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr 



National Biological Service 



Southeastern Biological Science 



Center 



7920 N.W. 7P"St. 



Gainesville. FL 32653 



Many recent declines and extinctions of 

 native amphibians have occurred in cer- 

 tain parts of the world (Wake 1991; Wake and 

 Morowitz 1991 ). All species of native true frogs 

 have declined in the western United States over 

 the past decade (Hayes and Jennings 1986). 

 Most of these native amphibian declines can be 

 directly attributed to habitat loss or modifica- 

 tion, which is often exacerbated by natural 

 events such as droughts or floods (Wake 1991 ). 

 A growing body of research, however, indicates 

 that certain native frogs are particularly suscep- 

 tible to population declines and extinctions in 

 habitats that are relatively unmodified by 

 humans (e.g., wilderness areas and national 

 parks in California; Bradford 1991; Fellers and 

 Drost 1993; Kagarise Sherman and Morton 

 1993). To understand these declines, we must 



document the current distribution of these 

 species over their entire historical range to learn 

 where they have disappeared. 



In 1988 the California Department of Fish 

 and Game commissioned the California 

 Academy of Sciences to conduct a 6-year study 

 on the status of the state's amphibians and rep- 

 tiles not currently protected by the Endangered 

 Species Act. The study's puipose was to deter- 

 mine amphibians and reptiles most vulnerable 

 to extinction and provide suggestions for future 

 research, management, and protection by state, 

 federal, and local agencies (Jennings and Hayes 

 1993). This article describes the distribution and 

 status of all native true frogs in California as 

 determined by the California Fish and Game 

 study. 



Native Ranid 

 Frogs in 

 California 



by 



Mark R. Jennings 



National Biological Service 



