How do invasive plants and climate change impact amphibians?
This summer, Griffin conducted two separate experiments at Blue Oak Ranch Reserve in California. The first examined the interactive effects of warming and increasing drought on amphibian disease dynamics and survival. Using 84 100-gallon cattle tanks to create artificial pond environments, the experiment tested how multiple components of climate change influence amphibian health and disease.Â
The second experiment used a similar mesocosm approach to investigate how invasive aquatic vegetation, mosquito fern, affects amphibian populations and their freshwater habitats. Mosquito fern has recently been found to cover ponds in a thick red mat of fern and decrease temperature and dissolved oxygen. Both experiments are currently in the analysis phase, with results expected by the end of the year.