Project Code:	MW-01-084
Program:	FRIP
Sponsor:	Millar Western Forest Products

Object & Deliverables

There are two distinct parts to this project – the amphibian inventory, and the forestry/amphibian applied study to examine the efforts of forest management activities on amphibian populations. Bruce Neilson, WFMI co author

In 2005, Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. initiated the Study of Forestry and Ambhibians (SOFA) to investigate the status of amphibian populations within their forest management agreement (FMA) area and determine the effects of prescribed forest management activities on these populations (Constible et al., 2001; Patrick et al., 2006; Browne et al., 2009; Deguise and Richardson, 2009; Rittenhouse and Semlitsch, 2009; Bloomquist and Hunter, 2010).

This study was initiated to collect data pertaining to the population genetics, abundance, diversity, movement, development, diet and distribution of amphibians in the Swan Hills / Virginia Hills region (Alberta). Furthermore, the study investigated the effects of stand-type, and harvest on these amphibian populations in an effort to make recommendations regarding industrial practices and provide useful information regarding a relatively unexplored ecozone.

Final Report-2011

Preliminary analysis showed the harvest had little effect on the capture rate of any life history stage of any wood frogs, boreal toads or boreal chorus frogs. It is likely that a mosaic of open and closed canopies allows free-ranging frogs to choose optimal habitats , depending on needs.

MW-01-084