Rana ponds: vertebrate ecology research facility construction proposal.

Abstract

Professor Owen J. Sexton would like to create two small ponds on property owned by UMBS. These ponds would be used for purposes of research and teaching in the ecology of small vertebrates, primarily amphibians and reptiles. According to Prof. Sexton, the current literature in herpetology indicates that large declines in populations of reptiles and amphibians are due to two main causes: destruction of suitable habitat by actions of humans (including filling and drainage of wetlands, stream channelization, and other land use/landform modifications); and secondly, by introduction of predators, especially fish, into reptile and amphibian habitats. It is propsed, therefore, that one pond is to be constructed so that it is structurally isolated from any other body of water containing fish (which are among the prime predators on small vertebrates); the other pond is to be at least seasonally connected to a body of water containing fish.