Investigating Post-release Behavior and Survival of Hard and Soft-Released Captive Reared Gopher Frogs (Rana capito). Crenshaw, A. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA, December, 2024. abstract bibtex Amphibian populations are declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The Gopher Frog (Rana capito) is an amphibian threatened by the losses of ephemeral wetlands and firemaintained, pine savanna habitat and increasing isolation among remnant populations. Gopher frogs are the focus of a growing number of captive-rearing and translocation programs in the southeast. Mortality of recently metamorphosed, captive-reared Gopher Frogs is high. It has been recommended that releasing Gopher Frogs in soft-release enclosures with artificial burrows for an acclimation period may increase survivorship. It has also been proposed that raising frogs in captivity longer to a larger size [head starting] may improve Gopher Frog post-release survival. This study follows one-year-old and two-year-old, captive-reared Gopher Frogs who were assigned to either a soft or hard-release treatment at the James W Webb Wildlife Center and Game Management Area in Hampton County, South Carolina. Soft-release frogs were held in field enclosures with artificial burrows for one month and then hard and soft-release frogs were tracked using VHF telemetry. Fate, net displacement from release points, total distance moved, and tortuosity were calculated for each frog. One-year-old Gopher Frogs had higher survivorship than two-year-old frogs. Predation by semi-aquatic snakes was the main source of mortality postrelease. Two-year-old frogs showed abnormal behaviors and difficulty moving in soft-release cages and post-release from field pens. One-year-old hard-release frogs had the highest total movement, net displacement, and tortuosity. These results indicate that holding Gopher Frogs longer term to a larger size may have negative outcomes because frogs behave abnormally or become deconditioned. Therefore, I recommend releasing frogs sooner rather than later until captive husbandry approaches are improved. Soft-release did reduce distances moved and the tortuosity of post-release movements, which may improve efforts to keep frogs in target areas; however, movement away from wetlands might be important for reducing predation by semiaquatic snakes.
@phdthesis{crenshaw_investigating_2024,
address = {Athens, Georgia, USA},
type = {Senior {Thesis}},
title = {Investigating {Post}-release {Behavior} and {Survival} of {Hard} and {Soft}-{Released} {Captive} {Reared} {Gopher} {Frogs} ({Rana} capito)},
abstract = {Amphibian populations are declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The Gopher Frog (Rana capito) is an amphibian threatened by the losses of ephemeral wetlands and firemaintained, pine savanna habitat and increasing isolation among remnant populations. Gopher frogs are the focus of a growing number of captive-rearing and translocation programs in the southeast. Mortality of recently metamorphosed, captive-reared Gopher Frogs is high. It has been recommended that releasing Gopher Frogs in soft-release enclosures with artificial burrows for an acclimation period may increase survivorship. It has also been proposed that raising frogs in captivity longer to a larger size [head starting] may improve Gopher Frog post-release survival. This study follows one-year-old and two-year-old, captive-reared Gopher Frogs who were assigned to either a soft or hard-release treatment at the James W Webb Wildlife Center and Game Management Area in Hampton County, South Carolina. Soft-release frogs were held in field enclosures with artificial burrows for one month and then hard and soft-release frogs were tracked using VHF telemetry. Fate, net displacement from release points, total distance moved, and tortuosity were calculated for each frog. One-year-old Gopher Frogs had higher survivorship than two-year-old frogs. Predation by semi-aquatic snakes was the main source of mortality postrelease. Two-year-old frogs showed abnormal behaviors and difficulty moving in soft-release cages and post-release from field pens. One-year-old hard-release frogs had the highest total movement, net displacement, and tortuosity. These results indicate that holding Gopher Frogs longer term to a larger size may have negative outcomes because frogs behave abnormally or become deconditioned. Therefore, I recommend releasing frogs sooner rather than later until captive husbandry approaches are improved. Soft-release did reduce distances moved and the tortuosity of post-release movements, which may improve efforts to keep frogs in target areas; however, movement away from wetlands might be important for reducing predation by semiaquatic snakes.},
school = {University of Georgia},
author = {Crenshaw, Andie},
month = dec,
year = {2024},
}
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It has been recommended that releasing Gopher Frogs in soft-release enclosures with artificial burrows for an acclimation period may increase survivorship. It has also been proposed that raising frogs in captivity longer to a larger size [head starting] may improve Gopher Frog post-release survival. This study follows one-year-old and two-year-old, captive-reared Gopher Frogs who were assigned to either a soft or hard-release treatment at the James W Webb Wildlife Center and Game Management Area in Hampton County, South Carolina. Soft-release frogs were held in field enclosures with artificial burrows for one month and then hard and soft-release frogs were tracked using VHF telemetry. Fate, net displacement from release points, total distance moved, and tortuosity were calculated for each frog. One-year-old Gopher Frogs had higher survivorship than two-year-old frogs. Predation by semi-aquatic snakes was the main source of mortality postrelease. Two-year-old frogs showed abnormal behaviors and difficulty moving in soft-release cages and post-release from field pens. One-year-old hard-release frogs had the highest total movement, net displacement, and tortuosity. These results indicate that holding Gopher Frogs longer term to a larger size may have negative outcomes because frogs behave abnormally or become deconditioned. Therefore, I recommend releasing frogs sooner rather than later until captive husbandry approaches are improved. Soft-release did reduce distances moved and the tortuosity of post-release movements, which may improve efforts to keep frogs in target areas; however, movement away from wetlands might be important for reducing predation by semiaquatic snakes.","school":"University of Georgia","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Crenshaw"],"firstnames":["Andie"],"suffixes":[]}],"month":"December","year":"2024","bibtex":"@phdthesis{crenshaw_investigating_2024,\n\taddress = {Athens, Georgia, USA},\n\ttype = {Senior {Thesis}},\n\ttitle = {Investigating {Post}-release {Behavior} and {Survival} of {Hard} and {Soft}-{Released} {Captive} {Reared} {Gopher} {Frogs} ({Rana} capito)},\n\tabstract = {Amphibian populations are declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The Gopher Frog (Rana capito) is an amphibian threatened by the losses of ephemeral wetlands and firemaintained, pine savanna habitat and increasing isolation among remnant populations. Gopher frogs are the focus of a growing number of captive-rearing and translocation programs in the southeast. Mortality of recently metamorphosed, captive-reared Gopher Frogs is high. It has been recommended that releasing Gopher Frogs in soft-release enclosures with artificial burrows for an acclimation period may increase survivorship. It has also been proposed that raising frogs in captivity longer to a larger size [head starting] may improve Gopher Frog post-release survival. This study follows one-year-old and two-year-old, captive-reared Gopher Frogs who were assigned to either a soft or hard-release treatment at the James W Webb Wildlife Center and Game Management Area in Hampton County, South Carolina. Soft-release frogs were held in field enclosures with artificial burrows for one month and then hard and soft-release frogs were tracked using VHF telemetry. Fate, net displacement from release points, total distance moved, and tortuosity were calculated for each frog. One-year-old Gopher Frogs had higher survivorship than two-year-old frogs. Predation by semi-aquatic snakes was the main source of mortality postrelease. Two-year-old frogs showed abnormal behaviors and difficulty moving in soft-release cages and post-release from field pens. One-year-old hard-release frogs had the highest total movement, net displacement, and tortuosity. These results indicate that holding Gopher Frogs longer term to a larger size may have negative outcomes because frogs behave abnormally or become deconditioned. Therefore, I recommend releasing frogs sooner rather than later until captive husbandry approaches are improved. Soft-release did reduce distances moved and the tortuosity of post-release movements, which may improve efforts to keep frogs in target areas; however, movement away from wetlands might be important for reducing predation by semiaquatic snakes.},\n\tschool = {University of Georgia},\n\tauthor = {Crenshaw, Andie},\n\tmonth = dec,\n\tyear = {2024},\n}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","author_short":["Crenshaw, A."],"key":"crenshaw_investigating_2024","id":"crenshaw_investigating_2024","bibbaseid":"crenshaw-investigatingpostreleasebehaviorandsurvivalofhardandsoftreleasedcaptiverearedgopherfrogsranacapito-2024","role":"author","urls":{},"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}},"html":""},"bibtype":"phdthesis","biburl":"https://bibbase.org/zotero-group/jcmaerz/6026148","dataSources":["mCHFziEwJLRwofY4u","cEHounRE4nrKSn63i","jCzfhtqfYxC5Tyadj"],"keywords":[],"search_terms":["investigating","post","release","behavior","survival","hard","soft","released","captive","reared","gopher","frogs","rana","capito","crenshaw"],"title":"Investigating Post-release Behavior and Survival of Hard and Soft-Released Captive Reared Gopher Frogs (Rana capito)","year":2024}