Annotated Bibliography

Camille Dayton

010/24/23

COLWRIT R4B

Under IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Redlist of Threatened

Species, amphibians are the world's most threatened vertebrate class. Almost half of Amphibian

species, 41%, are at risk of extinction. In general, amphibians are a vulnerable class due to their

permeable skin and many species having both aquatic and terrestrial life stages. In basic terms,

permeable skin is skin that allows liquid and gas to pass through it. This makes amphibians

extremely vulnerable to changes in temperature and humidity, and pollutants in the air and water.

The species of focus in this paper are Rana draytonii, commonly called the red-legged

tree frog, home to California and in less density, Baja, Mexico. Rana draytonii’s major threats are

invasive species and habitat loss. Although there are several conservation projects throughout

California that are trying to find ways to resolve these issues, Rana draytonii still remains on the

Endangered Species List. My goal is to research past and present Rana draytonii conservation

projects and find which have been the most successful and had the greatest impact on Rana

draytonii population increase. My bibliography has a large array of sources because not only am

I learning about Rana draytonii but I’m also trying to understand the global ways in which

amphibians, as a whole class, are threatened and the importance of species conservation.
1 Luedtke, Jennifer A., et al. Ongoing declines for the world’s amphibians in the face of

emerging threats.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 4 Oct. 2023,

www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06578-4#MOESM4

This source is a recent journal that analyzes the driving reasons for threatened amphibian species

globally. It presents extensive data with several visuals including graphs, charts, and images.

This source is super helpful in understanding the comparison of main drivers when looking at

different time periods and different places in the world.

This journal will most likely be the main source that I will use to provide general statistics and

information about amphibians and their status of being the world's most threatened vertebrate

class. I will use this source to provide general information about the global ways in which

amphibians, as a whole class, are threatened. Through this paper, I can reference the different

threats amphibians are facing in different parts of the world and different time periods.

4 Jennings MR, Hayes MP. 1985. PRE-1900 OVERHARVEST OF CALIFORNIA

RED-LEGGED FROGS (RANA AURORA DRAYTONII): THE INDUCEMENT FOR
BULLFROG (RANA CATESBEIANA) INTRODUCTION. Herpetologica. 41(1):94–103.

This source is a paper written by Mark R Jennings and Marc P. Hayes, that analyzes several

different sources to figure out the history of frog harvesting in California. Jennings and Hayes

use data from the U.S Bureau of Fisheries and Fish Commissioners combined with evidence

from Herpetologist's notes to estimate the extent to which red-legged frogs were being harvested
for food and the time bullfrogs were introduced to California. This paper has a clear discussion

and conclusion that are very useful for understanding the history of red-legged frogs becoming

threatened.

I will use this source in my paper to provide information on the history of why red-legged frogs

are threatened. Using this paper I was able to make a lot of connections as to why bullfrogs were

introduced in the first place and their harmful impact on red-legged frogs. For example, after

looking at the data provided in this paper and reading a website listed below (source #5) it is

clear that frog harvesting in the 1800s was an example of excess demand.

5 ‌Rathbun GB, Schneider J. 2001. Translocation of California red-legged frogs (Rana aurora
draytonii). Wildlife Society Bulletin. 29(4):1300–1303.

This source is a paper from 2001, written by researchers Galen Rathbun and Julie Schneider who

worked on a project to translocate Rana draytonii from a man-made cement pond to nearby

natural ponds. Their results were clear and the two researchers found that the translocation of

Rana draytonii was an unsuccessful conservation technique and could possibly put the frogs in

more danger than they were in the first place.

This source will be the first conservation project I introduce to my paper. It’s key to include it in

my paper because it's an example of primary research for a red-legged frog conservation project.

The paper is super helpful for my research as it is an example of a conservation project that

wasn’t successful. I will use this source to discuss how the conservation technique of

translocation is not very effective.

6 ‌Ehrlich PR. 1985. Extinction.

Paul writes about a story of the rivet popper. The story describes a passenger who notices

someone is popping rivets off the wings of the plane he intends to fly in. When confronted, the

rivet popper is unworried while explaining that all the rivets are not necessary and the plane can

still fly safely. This is true, but after a while, the removal of one additional rivet will be the

tipping point, causing the plane to be unable to fly. Paul uses this story as a comparison to

species extinctions and their impact on ecosystems. He predicts that with the extinction of more

and more species, comes the collapse of various ecosystems and eventually the fall down of our

world.

This story will be extremely useful for my paper because it provides exigency for species

conservation. I feel like it is a perfect story to include in my introduction because it is easily

understandable for all types of people. Through this story, almost every person can understand

why it is important to save as many species from extinction as we can.

California Red-legged Frog (Rana draytonii) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. FWSgov.
https://www.fws.gov/species/california-red-legged-frog-rana-draytonii.

‌This source is a brief summary of what a red-legged frog is. It goes over their basic information

such as areas they inhabit, endangerment, breeding, and other characteristics. The website also

provides images to show their geography and interactive visuals that show their known timeline

in California. Although this website page doesn’t provide extensive information, it provides the

basic and essential facts needed to understand what a red-legged frog is.

If I use this website in my paper then I will use it to provide basic facts about red-legged frogs.
In my original draft of the research proposal, I included information about their sexual

maturation and breeding from this website. I cut this from my proposal because it was far too

long but, moving forward, I may use some of these basic and essential facts in the body of my

paper. Another thing that could be helpful that I haven’t looked into yet is that they provide a list

of similar sources at the bottom of their website page. After briefly looking over the titles of the

sources I think they could be useful for my paper moving forward.

Conserving the California Red-Legged Frog. The Nat. [accessed 2023 Oct 26].
https://www.sdnhm.org/blog/blog_details/conserving-the-california-red-legged-frog/123/.

This source is a website page for the San Diego Natural History Museum. It goes over a

conservation project that researchers are working on to conserve the California red-legged frog.

Their frog recovery team has made 2 new breeding ponds and restored another at Rancho

Melling in the Sierra San Pedro Martir. They have decided to focus their attention on the

remaining populations that are close to them and try their best to get those populations thriving.

I have already included this source in my proposal, by listing it as one of the conservation

projects I want to look into. My wish is to reach out to the researchers involved in this project

and learn more about the effectiveness of their project. I am a little nervous about this because

I’m not sure if I will get a response after reaching out to the researchers. If I do get a response

then I will include it in my paper as an example of a current conservation project.

Protecting Red-legged Frogs in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park
Service). wwwnpsgov. [accessed 2023 Oct 26].
https://www.nps.gov/articles/protecting-red-legged-frogs-golden-gate.htm#:~:text=The%20restor
ation%20of%20Mori%20Point.

This source is an article from the National Park Service webpage discussing the protection of

Red-Legged Frogs in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. At the beginning of the article,

there’s a short yet very informative summary of why and how red-legged frogs are threatened. It

then goes on to discuss the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s conservation projects. They

have constructed several new ponds for breeding areas and also improved the hydrolic

connections between wetlands, uplands, and the new ponds. This article also provides a graph

that shows the number of egg masses at Mori Point (a location where they have been doing these

projects) over 12 years. This graph shows massive success!

This source is very similar to the one before it because it is also already included in my proposal

as one of the conservation projects I want to look into. I am more hopeful about this one because

they have more information on their page and even provide a graph, which means they have

data! Also, I am excited because through just the one image they have on their page, it is clear

that their project has been successful. This source is also better then the one above because even

if I don’t get a response from the researchers, it still provides enough information online that I

could still use it for my paper.

Nunes AL, Fill JM, Davies SJ, Louw M, Rebelo AD, Thorp CJ, Vimercati G, Measey J. 2019. A
global meta-analysis of the ecological impacts of alien species on native amphibians.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 286(1897):20182528.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2528.

This source is a global meta-analysis of the ecological impacts of alien species on native

amphibians. This article is focused solely on invasive species and their impacts on amphibians,

but it’s still broad because it’s focused on this impact globally. This article is really helpful if I

want to include further discussion about invasive species in my paper.

I read through this source at the beginning of my research and it was extremely informative. It

provided a lot of data, graphs, and charts which were interesting and presented clear results.

Although I learned a lot from it, I do not think I will be using anything specifically from it in my

paper. It does focus on invasive species which I will most likely discuss, but I will probably want

to use information more specific to my species of interest.

California Red-Legged Frog. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. [accessed 2023 Oct
26].
https://www.openspace.org/where-to-go/nature/california-red-legged-frog#:~:text=On%20the%2
0San%20Mateo%20County.

This source gives a brief explanation of what a red-legged frog is and their position on the

endangered species list. It then discusses why it is important to restore the red-legged frog

population. On the San Mateo County Coast, the California red-legged frog serves as an

important prey species for the endangered San Francisco Garter Snake. Conservation of

red-legged frogs and their habitat is important not only for the frogs but also to save another

endangered species.
This source is excellent for my exigence in my paper. It discusses the specific reasons red-legged

frog conservation is important. I will definitely use this information, specifically the impact

red-legged frog populations have on the endangered San Francisco Garter snake, in my paper.

This source is also good for my research and outreach to the group in San Francisco that is

working on conservation projects for red-legged frogs.

Simon Asher Levin. 2013. Encyclopedia of biodiversity. 2nd ed. San Diego: Academic Press.

‌This source is a very broad source that assesses the factors that could be causing the amphibian

population decline. It focuses on a few key reasons for amphibian endangerment: Climate

change, habitat destruction, ultraviolet radiation, disease, commercial exploitation, and

introduced species. In the end, it touched on the fact that there are possible links with deformities

and some specific examples of declining amphibian populations.

This source was the first article I read for my research paper. It has some key points that are

relevant to my paper, for example it has the same central idea as mine, the decline of amphibian

populations, but I don’t think I will cite anything from it in my paper. The only part I could see

myself referencing in my paper is the discussion of invasive species. But, I already have several

other sources discussing invasive species. For example, the paper written by Mark R Jennings

and Marc P. Hayes analyzes several different sources to figure out the history of frog harvesting

in California and the introduction of bullfrogs. In conclusion, this source was very informative

but I have others that I find more useful for my paper.

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