Oregon State University
$96,582  Blue Mountains 

Many amphibians, such as the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris), are at risk in the Pacific Northwest, where they are threatened by increasing drought, land use change, habitat loss, introduced species, pathogens, and other hazards. Past land management has led to losses of floodplain wetlands, a key habitat for amphibians. Fortunately, efforts are underway to increase stream-floodplain connectivity and complexity through restoration, increasing both floodplain wetland habitat and resilience to drought. While many of these projects are aimed at salmonid recovery, they are expected to also benefit amphibians. However, due to a lack of cost-effective, reliable, and efficient ways to monitor amphibians, little is known about how this kind of restoration affects amphibians. The goals of this project are to 1) address this gap by monitoring amphibian responses to restoration using four methods, and 2) compare the effectiveness, cost, and efficiency of the four methods. We plan to monitor amphibians with the traditional approach of visual surveys and with three rapidly evolving monitoring techniques: 1) laboratory-based metabarcoding on eDNA isolated from water samples; 2) streamside targeted sequence detection on eDNA isolated from water samples, and 3) bioacoustic surveys. The study will be conducted as part of a larger monitoring effort of 12 restoration projects (paired with 11 controls) managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the US Forest Service, and local watershed councils. This study will help improve our understanding of how restoration affects at-risk amphibians in drought-prone eastern Oregon and build a better understanding of the effectiveness of these novel methods. If successful, these methods may be game-changers that enhance our understanding of amphibian conservation and can be deployed by scientists and citizens, increasing the quality of data on imperiled amphibians and their responses to restoration.