Occurrence of California Red-Legged (Rana draytonii) and Northern Red-Legged (Rana aurora) Frogs in Timberlands of Mendocino County, California, Examined with Environmental DNA

摘要: Effective species management requires knowledge of distributions, but surveys for cryptic near the boundaries their geographical ranges can be difficult. We used environmental DNA (eDNA) and occupancy modeling to examine distribution Northern Red-legged Frogs (Rana aurora) federally threatened California draytonii) in a sample 60 forested stream sites where meet southern Mendocino County, California, USA. For both species, probability occurrence (ψ) forest streams our study area was very low: Frog ψ <0.01 (95% credible interval = <0.01–0.05), 0.07 (0.02–0.15). from found at 1 pond site, suggesting either co-occurrence or introgression. Our results suggest that abundance, use, are low red-legged frogs County.