Thus, amphibians are sensitive to a loss or alteration of aquatic and terrestrial habitat as well as connectivity between these features (Becker et al., 2010). Many amphibians have complex life cycles and require access to aquatic habitat for breeding, larval development, and metamorphosis as well as upland terrestrial habitat to facilitate adult life stages.

Human- and climate-driven habitat loss and fragmentation continue to pose a threat to amphibians globally (Becker et al., 2007 Cushman, 2006 Hof et al., 2011). We argue that a landscape approach to wetland conservation, rather than just conserving known breeding sites, is essential for retaining viable amphibian populations in a context of human induced habitat loss and climate change. Our results illustrate the importance of conserving ephemeral wetlands as stepping stones. We used a spatial network analysis to identify key ephemeral wetlands that connect otherwise isolated sub-networks across the landscape and probable movement paths between wetlands and the upland terrestrial habitat. The model was configured to explore connectivity under three climate scenarios (a wet, average, and dry year), and a land management scenario in which only known breeding sites are conserved. Land use data and dispersal characteristics for the western tiger salamander were used to develop a spatially-explicit individual-based model of amphibian movement. Our objective was to study the impact of climate- and human-driven losses in ephemeral wetlands on functional connectivity for amphibians, using the endangered western tiger salamander ( Ambystoma mavortium) in British Columbia, Canada as a case study.

Maintaining connectivity between aquatic and terrestrial habitats and across wetlands is critical to amphibian conservation, particularly in regions where climate change may exacerbate habitat loss. Habitat loss and fragmentation continue to drive declines of amphibian populations.

Ephemeral wetlands