Effective conservation is becoming more difficult as threats to wildlife increase. Natural resource managers are pressured to make difficult decisions with limited resources, and in many instances, large uncertainty. Scientists and managers tasked with the conservation of a species need tools to help guide efficient decision-making. Often, information for management decisions is insufficient. Tools that help to inform decision makers and address uncertainty are invaluable to effective conservation initiatives. The objective of our study was to create a model to best predict Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) breeding occurrence across the northeastern United States. We estimated relationships between breeding newt field survey data and landscape-level covariates while accounting for imperfect detection. We then used those relationships to map expected newt breeding site occupancy across the northeastern United States. We find that newt breeding occupancy is inversely correlated to the amount of human influence in a landscape, highlighting a key existing threat to Eastern Newts that may be exacerbated by the introduction of novel pathogens, such as the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans.

Translocating amphibians to alternative, suitable habitat is a climate adaptation strategy aimed at minimizing the risk of extinction due to projected global warming and drying. Projected conditions could undermine their physiological performance, and thus survival and reproduction. Translocations minimize risks of extinction by increasing spatial redundancy across climate-resilient habitats, particularly for dispersal-limited species. However, outcomes of amphibian translocation attempts are poorly documented, and their effectiveness remains unclear. We released and tracked 34 Eleutherodactylus coqui to determine early postrelease survival of a control (nontranslocated) group (n = 14) and experimental (translocated) group (n = 20) moved 0.8 km from their capture location in west-central Puerto Rico in 2021. We defined “initial” as the first 17 d postrelease, a period during which we hypothesized that experimental individuals would have lower survival rates because they transitioned from known-familiar to novel-unfamiliar habitat. We found no evidence in the data to support our hypothesis. Daily survival rates were better explained by a model with no group effect but negatively influenced by in situ temperature. However, the effect of in situ temperature (proxy of operative temperature) was weak (95% confidence intervals overlapped 0). After 17 d, all but one of the recaptured frogs lost weight for a combined weight loss of 0.28 ± 0.13 g. However, weight loss was significantly higher in translocated frogs (0.81 ± 0.33 g). Average daily movements did not hinder survival even though experimental individuals traveled farther (～ eight times) than control ones. Our findings suggested that managed translocations have the potential to become a useful conservation tool, not an additive source of mortality. We outline challenges that remain before translocations of Eleutherodactylus species can be broadly applied.

Calls are the most conspicuous form of communication in anurans. They are generally species specific, mediate mating behavior and, as such, are often emitted during the breeding season. The calls of Thoropa, an endemic genus to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Campo Rupestre, are known from the type localities of six valid species. However, recent molecular analyses revealed a greater number of molecular lineages within the T. miliaris species group than previously recognized. Here we aimed to investigate the advertisement calls of 12 individuals of T. miliaris and 5 individuals of T. taophora. Whenever possible, these were assigned to the recognized molecular lineages through Sanger sequences of the final portion of the 16S ribosomal mitochondrial gene. The sampled individuals are from different localities and associated with different lineages. We conducted the acoustic characterization based on 15 (T. miliaris) and 11 (T. taophora) recordings. We identified three types of calls: Type 1 and Type 2 calls of T. miliaris, and a third call type, exclusive to T. taophora. Type 1 of T. miliaris is usually formed by an introductory and a long note, followed by a more frequently emitted (i.e., common) note. Type 2 of T. miliaris is composed of an introductory note, followed by a long note, and followed by relatively high and low amplitude alternated notes. The call of T. taophora is formed by a peculiar note, with low and high relative amplitude portions on the same note. It is worth noting that syntopic lineages exhibit similar calls. Also, recorded calls from far localities of the same lineages are similar. This study is the first to analyze calls of different lineages and populations T. miliaris and T. taophora.

Understanding the movement ecology of a species can provide valuable insight into responses to environmental change and inform management and conservation decision-making. Using acoustic telemetry, we tracked eight juvenile Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas; curved carapace length, 50.59 ± 4.71 cm [42.8–57.9 cm], mean ± SD [range]) between July 2015 and December 2016 in Brewers Bay on St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and characterized their movements—specifically area use, diving behavior, and rates of movement. We investigated how these movements were influenced by diel period, water temperature, barometric pressure, and wind speed. We found that the diel period significantly influenced space use, with turtles displaying behaviors typical to the species (i.e., resting at night and foraging during the day); however, the turtles in this study occupied relatively shallow habitats at night compared with turtles in other studies. Turtles showed strong fidelity to resting and foraging areas, consistently shuttling back and forth between the same areas diurnally, with one individual relying on the same resting area across the full 1.5-yr study. Warmer water temperatures were associated with shorter dive durations and higher rates of movement. Movement behaviors also shifted in response to indicators of storm activity (barometric pressure and wind speed), with turtles tending to dive deeper and for longer durations. Our results indicate that although some behavioral responses are consistent across Green Sea Turtles, others display plasticity, suggesting the management of this species in the face of increasing anthropogenic interactions must take into consideration local conditions.

The casque-headed lophyohyline genus Nyctimantis is widespread in South America, being composed of seven species. A recent molecular and morphological review of the genus found some undescribed species, one of which, from the Brazilian Cerrado, is described in this paper. It is distinguished by its relatively small to medium size, skull without expanded maxillae, paired vocal sacs, toe I without webbing, dark-brown dorsal coloration without longitudinal stripes, and dark-red to brown iris. The new species is the only in the genus occurring in the Brazilian Cerrado, inhabiting swampy forests.

We describe a new species of Cyrtodactylus from Sentul, a suburb of Bogor City, West Java, Indonesia that belongs to the C. marmoratus species group. The new species is the fourth Cyrtodactylus reported from Java. It is small (SVL 46.3–53.8 mm) and nocturnal. A combination of the following characteristics distinguishes the new species from all other congeners: supralabials 11–13; infralabials 9–11; tubercles on the dorsal surface of upper arm absent; tubercles on ventrolateral body folds present; longitudinal dorsal tubercle rows 18–20; paravertebral tubercles 27–34; ventral scale rows 37–40 at midbody; grooved precloacal depression in males; enlarged precloacofemoral scales present, containing 12 or 13 precloacal pores and 2–4 femoral pores; separated by 5–7 normal scales; subdigital lamellae on fourth toe 18–23; and enlarged transverse median subcaudals absent. The new species is genetically divergent from the other two Javan congeners of the C. marmoratus group—C. marmoratus and C. semiadii—with genetic divergences (p-distances) of 21.3–22.3% in the mitochondrial ND2 gene.