Files
Abstract
The composition, configuration, and connectivity of landscapes influence regional ecology. Distinguishing landscape and local effects is difficult, and important effects may be masked, misinterpreted, or ignored if studies are too general. I studied the landscape connectivity of two species of frogs in geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) on a portion of the Dougherty Plain in southwestern Georgia. I examined the effects of landscape features on amphibian abundance, amphibian community composition, and gene flow of the southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus) and the southern cricket frog (Acris gryllus). Land-use/ land-cover, soil characteristics, and dominant wetland vegetation, have divergent effects on amphibian species and guilds. Percent forest cover and predicted wetlands (a measure of wetland suitability) best explained amphibian abundance and diversity. Genetic differentiation, as measured by FST, was correlated with Euclidean distance and land-use for populations of southern cricket frogs, but less for the larger and more vagile southern leopard frogs.