January LAS Meeting

Laramie Audubon Society will kick off its 2014 program series on Wednesday, January 30th with a presentation on Ecosystem Engineers, Wetlands, and Amphibian Diversity by University of Wyoming student Vicky Zero. Vicky, a Master's student in Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management, will discuss her research on the distribution of local amphibian populations, particularly in relation to beaver presence and activities. Vicky studied northern leopard frogs, boreal chorus frogs, and tiger salamanders at Pole Mountain wetlands in 2012 and 2013.

Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculata) - Churchill, MB

In addition to using traditional methods of surveying amphibians, Vicki also used an emerging technique that uses environmental DNA collected in water samples to detect the presence of these amphibians. Come and find out what she learned about the factors that determine why our local amphibians occur where they do.

As always, our meetings will take place in the Berry Center Auditorium on UW Campus. The reception begins at 6:30 PM, with our talk beginning at 7:00 PM. Please join us to learn more about our local amphibian species.

Note: all photos in this post are © Shawn Billerman