Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: North Carolina
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

North Carolina Project


Advancing climate change adaptation strategies for high elevation and endangered lowland amphibian species in the US Caribbean.

March 2023 - September 2025


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • SE Climate Adaptation Science Center

We propose to advance effective and efficient adaptation to climate change and recovery in the US Caribbean by addressing two objectives: 1) measuring key micro-climate variables along multiple habitat and climate gradients, allowing for identification of resilient climate habitats for at-risk and endangered amphibian species; and 2) expanding prior work to distinguish between the interactive effects of moisture and temperature on Eleutherodactylus occurrence and abundance. The expected results from this study include an island-wide evaluation of potential climate refugia sites for temperature and moisture sensitive Eleutherodactylus species, and criteria for decision makers to determine when and where they should engage in in-situ management or managed translocations.

Research Publications Publication Date
Eaton, M.J., A.J. Terando, J.A. Collazo. 2024. Adaptation Strategies for Conserving Puerto Rico’s Sensitive Herpetofauna: a demonstrative case study using the plains coqui (coqui llanero, E. juanariveroi). Frontiers in Conservation Science, section Animal Conservation. | Abstract October 2024
Presentations Presentation Date
Eaton, M.J., A.J. Terando, J. A. Collazo. 2024. Using portfolio theory to optimize protected-area design for conserving Caribbean herpetofauna vulnerable to climate change uncertainty. American Geophysical Union (AGU) Conference, December 9-13, Washington DC. August 2024