Investigating a management program for introduced Green treefrogs at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The mandate of Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP) is to preserve its resources in ways that will leave them essentially unaltered by human influences, which includes the management of nonnative species. Non-native Green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea) were introduced and have established large population throughout Cades Cove, GSMNP. We used capture-mark-recapture to estimate the size of the breeding population at the putative introduction site, and call surveys to estimate native anuran and H. cinerea occupancy among wetlands. We also used mesocosms to test the effects of wetland type on larval performance. Finally, using data from these studies and literature, we used Individual Based Modeling (IBM) to evaluate likely scenarios for the invasion of H. cinerea into Cades Cove. Models suggest that facilitated dispersal, possibly via tourists, likely plays a role in the spread of H. cinerea throughout Cades Cove and therefore effective management strategies may require understanding visitor behavior.