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Research Article

Climatic change and wetland desiccation cause amphibian decline in Yellowstone National Park

Sarah K. McMenamin, Elizabeth A. Hadly, and Christopher K. Wright
  1. aDepartment of Biology, Stanford University, 301 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-5020; and
  2. bGeographic Information Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University, Wecota Hall Box 506B, Brookings, SD 57077

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PNAS November 4, 2008 105 (44) 16988-16993; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0809090105
Sarah K. McMenamin
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  • For correspondence: sarahkm@stanford.edu
Elizabeth A. Hadly
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Christopher K. Wright
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  1. Communicated by Stephen H. Schneider, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, September 17, 2008 (received for review January 15, 2008)

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Abstract

Amphibians are a bellwether for environmental degradation, even in natural ecosystems such as Yellowstone National Park in the western United States, where species have been actively protected longer than anywhere else on Earth. We document that recent climatic warming and resultant wetland desiccation are causing severe declines in 4 once-common amphibian species native to Yellowstone. Climate monitoring over 6 decades, remote sensing, and repeated surveys of 49 ponds indicate that decreasing annual precipitation and increasing temperatures during the warmest months of the year have significantly altered the landscape and the local biological communities. Drought is now more common and more severe than at any time in the past century. Compared with 16 years ago, the number of permanently dry ponds in northern Yellowstone has increased 4-fold. Of the ponds that remain, the proportion supporting amphibians has declined significantly, as has the number of species found in each location. Our results indicate that climatic warming already has disrupted one of the best-protected ecosystems on our planet and that current assessments of species' vulnerability do not adequately consider such impacts.

  • global warming
  • landscape change
  • remote sensing
  • amphibian community
  • drought

Footnotes

  • 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sarahkm{at}stanford.edu
  • Author contributions: S.K.M. and E.A.H. designed research; S.K.M. performed research; S.K.M. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; S.K.M. and C.K.W. analyzed data; and S.K.M. and E.A.H. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0809090105/DCSupplemental.

  • © 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
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Climatic change and wetland desiccation cause amphibian decline in Yellowstone National Park
Sarah K. McMenamin, Elizabeth A. Hadly, Christopher K. Wright
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nov 2008, 105 (44) 16988-16993; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0809090105

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Climatic change and wetland desiccation cause amphibian decline in Yellowstone National Park
Sarah K. McMenamin, Elizabeth A. Hadly, Christopher K. Wright
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nov 2008, 105 (44) 16988-16993; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0809090105
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