Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI)

In response to the phenomenon of declining amphibian populations, the USGS established the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) under the Wildlife and Terrestrial Resources Program. The objectives of ARMI are to:

• Monitor amphibian populations to understand the severity and scope of declines and malformations.
• Determine the causes of amphibian declines.
• Develop effective management actions to halt or reverse declines in collaboration with DOI agencies.
• Encourage collaboration by making the information available to cooperators, land managers, the scientific community, and the general public.

NoRock scientists conduct monitoring and research in ARMI’s Rocky Mountain region, in collaboration with scientists at the Fort Collins Science Center, several universities (particularly Idaho State University and the University of Montana), and other agencies.

ARMI Projects at NoRock

See the Rocky Mountain Region 2006 Progress Report [PDF (49.35 KB)]

ARMI monitoring projects in the Rocky Mountains are conducted at multiple scales. Inventories include a collaborative effort on National Forests and Department of Interior lands in Montana, conducted by Bryce Maxell at the Montana Natural Heritage Program, and funded through the ARMI competitive grants program. Mid-level long-term monitoring uses the Great Divide transect, distributed over 8° of latitude, with gradients of climate, development, and status of amphibian populations. This transect comprises Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain national parks. Studies in Yellowstone and Grand Teton are funded by the National Park Service Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring Network (GRYN) to Chuck Peterson at Idaho State University. Intensive population monitoring of Boreal Toads is conducted at several sites in Montana and Wyoming.

Research projects in the Rocky Mountain region focus on three major themes:

• Disease — We are interested in the distribution and effects on amphibians of the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This includes a study funded competitively through the Park Oriented Biological Support Program to Steve Corn and Sophie St.-Hilaire (Idaho State University) to determine the prevalence of chytrid fungus in Grand Teton National Park and the comparable pathogenicity of locally-cultured strains of the fungus to boreal toads.
• Fire — We are examining the effects of wildfire and prescribed fire on amphibians, including studies funded by ARMI and the Joint Fire Sciences Program. Some of this work has taken advantage of wildfires in Glacier National Park that burned landscapes where we already had considerable data on amphibian occurrence, creating the opportunity for a ready-made before-after comparison.
• Climate Change — We are collaborating with several other herpetologists to use long-term observations of breeding behavior to predict changes in phenology (timing of breeding) related to predicted reductions in mountain snow pack during the coming decades.

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