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Instructor:                              Dr. Jason Hoverman (jhoverma@utk.edu)

 

Graduate Assistant:              Nathan Haislip (nhaislip@utk.edu)

Kevin Hamed (mhamed@utk.edu)

 

Phone:                                    974-0831 (JH)

Office:                                    230 Ellington PSB (JH)

Meeting Time and Place:      5:05–7:05 pm  T,R      113 PBB (2 field trips required: 18 March and 17 April)

 

Course Goal:              To expose students to the life history, diversity, ecology, conservation, and management of amphibians through a combination of lectures, readings, class discussions, labs, and field experiences.

 

Expected Outcomes:             Students that successfully complete WFS 433/533 will have a basic understanding of amphibian identification, anatomy, life history, and ecology.  They will be aware of potential mechanisms of amphibian declines, and understand how to identify, collect and ship diseased amphibians to a diagnostic lab.  Students will understand how to sample amphibian populations and be aware of conservation strategies.  

 

Required Text:          The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians, 2007 (ISBN 9780226893341)

Author:                      Kentwood D. Wells

Journal Papers:         Occasionally journal papers will be assigned instead of or to supplement the required text.  Papers will be provided in class or on the course website.

 

 

Academic Assessment:

 

Weights of Academic Assessments:

WFS 433

 

WFS 533

● Test #1        

30%

 

● Test #1        

25%

● Test #2

30%

 

● Test #2

25%

● Amphibian ID Exam

20%

 

● Amphibian ID Exam

20%

● Participation1,2

20%

 

● Participation1,2

10%

 

● Presentation3

20%

1Participation includes attendance on the 2 field trips and participation in the 3 laboratory activities.  You will earn 4% and 2% for attending each field trip and participating in each laboratory activity for WFS 433 and 533, respectively.   

2If you miss a field trip or laboratory activity, you can either: (1) write a 10-page scientific paper on an amphibian topic of your choice or (2) accept the percent deduction (4% or 2%) in your final grade corresponding with the appropriate course number.

3One hour lecture on an amphibian topic – please see Dr. Hoverman before 2 March 2010 to discuss potential topics.

   

Your course grade will be determined using the following scale:

 

Grade

Final Weighted Percent

 

Grade

Final Weighted Percent

A

90–100%

 

C

70–76%

B+

87–89%

 

D

60–69%

B

80–86%

 

F

<60%

C+

77–79%

 

 

 

 

Extra Credit:            

 

You can positively influence your final grade as much as 4.5% by volunteering for extra credit.  Volunteer work must be related to herpetofauna, and can include work on university projects or with government agencies or NGOs.  For every 8 hours of volunteer work, your final grade will be increased by 1.5% up to 4.5% (or 24 hours total).  All volunteering must be completed by 29 April 2010. A volunteer form (see below) must be filled out by the supervising individual.  Scott Dykes and Pete Wyatt (TWRA non-game biologists) often are looking for volunteer assistance (Region 4 Office: 1-800-332-0900; scott.dykes@state.tn.us, pete.wyatt@state.tn.us).  Also, Wayne Schacher (consulting biologist for Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge) frequently needs help with herptofaunal surveys (457-4355 home, whschacher@natreserv.com).  Nathan Haislip (WFS 433/533 TA), Kevin Hamed (WFS 433/533 TA), and Matthew Niemiller (PhD Candidate in EEB, mniemill@utk.edu) may need assistance collecting amphibians or conducting experiments during the semester.  Lastly, students can volunteer with the Tennessee Amphibian Monitoring Program for extra credit; interested students should contact Dr. Gray (mgray11@utk.edu, 974-2740).  

 

Extra Credit Form

 

 

Full Syllabus

 

Teaching Resources:

Handouts

Required Tennessee Anurans

Required Tennessee Salamanders

Anuran Sonograms

Tadpole Morphology (Haislip Lecture)

Practice Exam – TN Amphibian Identification

 

Required Readings:

 

TEST #1 Material

 

1)      Amphibian Diversity and Evolution

Required Readings:

Wells: pp. 1-15, 41-58, 65-74, 77-80

 

NOTE: Questions given in lecture slides.

 

Supplemental Readings

Wells: pp. 16-41, 59-65, 75-77

 

2)      Amphibian Phylogenetics and Phylogeography

 

3)      Amphibian Declines

Required Readings:

a.       What makes amphibians especially vulnerable to declines?

Wells: pp. 787-792

b.      What are some species in North America with relic populations?

Wells: pp: 793-794

c.       What is the region of the United States with the greatest number of species declining?  Also, be able to list a few species with distributions east of the Mississippi that are declining.

Wells: pp: 800-803

d.      Know which island in the South Pacific likely has the highest diversity of amphibian species per unit area in the world.

Wells: p. 795

e.       Be able to provide an argument for why we should care that amphibians are declining.

Wells: pp. 850-853

Supplemental Readings

Wells: pp. 816-850 (hypotheses for declines)

 

4)      Reproductive Strategies

Required Readings:

a.       Be able to describe different strategies for anuran oviposition in standing water.

Wells: pp. 465-468

b.      Be able to describe the differences between bubble and foam nests used in anuran oviposition and their adaptive significance.

Wells: pp: 472-478

c.       Be able to describe the differences between two modes of salamander reproduction and their adaptive significance.

Wells: pp. 488-493

d.      Be able to provide an explanation why some salamanders that deposit eggs in still water lay their eggs in clumps while others scatter single eggs.

Wells: pp. 788-489

e.       Know which family of salamanders only exhibits direct development.

Wells: p. 491

f.       Know the two salamander genera that exhibit ovoviviparity and viviparity.

Wells: p. 493

Supplemental Readings

Wells: pp. 465-493 (modes of anuran reproduction)

Zug Handout (pp. 169-189, Zug 1993, Herpetology, Academic Press).

 

5)      Anuran Courtship and Mating

 

6)      Salamander Courtship and Mating

 

7)      Tadpole Ecology and Metamorphosis

 

8)      Phenotypic Plasticity

 

 

TEST #2 Material

 

1)      Amphibian Sampling Techniques

 

2)      Community Ecology

 

3)      Graduate Student #1 Lecture

 

4)      Graduate Student #2 Lecture

 

5)      Invasive Species

 

6)      Ranaviruses and Bd

 

Required Readings:

·         Wells:

a.       What was the first country to report die-offs from Bd?

Wells: p. 831

b.      Be able to describe some weaknesses of the “Out of Africa” hypothesis.

Wells: p: 834

c.       Be able to describe how global climate change may be contributing to the emergence of Bd. 

Wells: p. 834

d.      Be able to describe how differences in antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) associated with the skin of amphibians may be responsible for differences in susceptibility to Bd that have been observed among amphibian species.

Wells: pp. 835-837

·         Gray et al. (2009): Ecology and pathology of amphibian ranaviruses

·         Kilpatrick et al. (2010): The ecology and impact of chytridiomycosis

Supplemental Readings

            Wells: pp. 831-838

            Bd Treatment

 

7)      Climate Change

 

8)      Conservation

Required Readings:

·         No Required Readings

Supplemental Readings

·         Recommendations for Riparian Buffers: Salamanders (Crawford and Semlitsch 2007)

·         Recommendations for Wetlands Buffers: Amphibians and Reptiles (Semlitsch and Bodie 2003)

 

Podcasts: (MP3 Format)

1.      iTunes Instructions: (you must first download iTunes to Listen to Podcasts)

1)      Go to http://itunesu.utk.edu

2)      Click on "Download iTunes & Quick Time"

3)      Click on “Download iTunes Free”

4)      Save iTunes to your hard drive and install.

2.      Link to iTunes to Listen to Podcasts:  Launch Podcasts in iTunes U  

 

Slides: (PDF Format)

Lectures:  Test 1

                   “Tennessee Anuran Identification” (PDF)            “Tennessee Anuran Identification”      (MHT)

                   “Tadpole Identification” (Nathan Haislip, UTK)

                   “Tennessee Salamander Identification: 2010 Lecture” (Guest Lecturer: Matthew Niemiller, UTK)

“Tennessee Salamander Identification: 2009 Lecture” (Guest Lecturer: Matthew Niemiller, UTK)

                   “Diversity of Amphibia” (Kevin Hamed, UTK)

                   “Amphibian Phylogenetics and Phylogeography” (Guest Lecturer: Matthew Niemiller, UTK)

                   “Global Amphibian Declines” (Dr. Matt Gray, UTK)

                   “Amphibian Reproductive Strategies” (Guest Lecturer: Dr. Sandy Echternacht, UTK)

 “Anuran Courtship and Mating” (Kevin Hamed, UTK)

 “Salamander Courtship and Mating” (Kevin Hamed, UTK)

 “Tadpole Ecology and Metamorphosis” (Nathan Haislip, UTK)

 “Phenotypic Plasticity” (Dr. Jason Hoverman, UTK)

 

Lectures:  Test 2

“Amphibian Dissection Lab” (Jason Hoverman, Nathan Haislip and Kevin Hamed, UTK)

 “Amphibian Sampling Techniques” (Kevin Hamed, UTK)

“Disease Sampling Techniques” (Nathan Haislip, UTK)

“Community Ecology” (Jason Hoverman, UTK)

“Zoos and Captive Breeding” (Guest Lecturer: Dr. Tim Herman, Toledo Zoo)

“Invasive Species” (Nathan Haislip, UTK)

“Bd and Ranaviruses” (Dr. Matt Gray, UTK)

“Amphibian Pathology” (Guest Lecturer: Dr. Debra Miller, UGA)

“Climate Change” (Kevin Hamed, UTK)

“Global Concerns with Amphibians” (Guest Lecturer: Dr. Jim Collins, ASU)

“Amphibian Conservation” (Dr. Matt Gray, UTK)

Graduate Student Lectures: Test 2

1)     Emily Hockman

2)      Andrew West

Videos:

Diversity and Evolution Lecture

1.       Parental care in caecilians.  Female caecilian “feeding” her young sloughed skin that is high in fat content.  From Life in Cold Blood.  BBC production.  Hosted by David Attenborough.  Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/lifeincoldblood/video.shtml?licbtt03

 

2.       Plethodontid salamander feeding. Hydromantes platycephalus is able to project its tongue more than half its body length to capture prey.  From Dr. Stephen Deban’s website.  Dr. Deban is at the University of South Florida and studies evolutionary biology and functional morphology (http://autodax.net/index.html).  Link: http://autodax.net/hydromovie.html

 

3.       Hellbender feeding. Cryptobranchus alleganiensis uses suction feeding to consume prey within its aquatic environment. From Dr. Stephen Deban’s website.  Link: http://autodax.net/Cryptomovie.html

 

4.       Japanese Giant Salamander Andrias japonicas introduction and conservation. From National Geographic’s Wild Chronicles.  Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN60DCHHQ50

 

5.       Bolitoglossa schizodactyla walking. Bolitoglossa schizodactyla has unique adaptations for climbing.  One of your assignments is to read about this in your book.  From Amphibia Web website.  Link: http://amphibiaweb.org/sounds/Bolitoglossa_schizodactyla.mov

 

6.       Male poison arrow frogs wrestling over territories.  From Life in Cold Blood.  BBC production.  Hosted by David Attenborough.  Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/lifeincoldblood/video.shtml?licbtt02

 

7.       Male poison arrow frogs and their tadpoles.  Males carry their tadpoles on their backs to bromeliads to complete their larval development.  From Life in Cold Blood.  BBC production.  Hosted by David Attenborough.  Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64y15Ho6d84

 

NOTE:  Video 7 did not play during lecture.  Please watch it.

 

Amphibian Declines Lecture

 

1.       Worldwide Amphibian Declines: How big is the problem, what are the causes and what can be done?  Interview with Vance Vredenburg, Robert Drewes, Tyrone Hayes, and Karen Swaim.  Video at: http://amphibiaweb.org/declines/declines.html.

 

 

Website:

TWRA Amphibian Identification:      http://www.state.tn.us/twra/tamp/frogs.html 

LEAPS Anuran Identification:                       http://www.leaps.ms/Tn.%20Frogs%20ID%20Page.htm

 

Video Clips of Frog Calls:                  http://www.midwestfrogs.com/

 

TWRA Salamander Identification:     http://www.state.tn.us/twra/tamp/salamanders.htm

 

Amphibians of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Dodd 2003):            http://fisc.er.usgs.gov/c1258_Dodd/

 

Southeast Tadpole Identification:            http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/armi/Guide_to_Tadpoles/guide_to_tadpoles.html

 

ARMI 5-year Report (Amphibian Declines):            http://www.fort.usgs.gov/products/publications/21733/21733.pdf

 

Global Amphibian Assessment:                      http://www.globalamphibians.org

 

USGS Field Guide to Malformations of Frogs and Toads:            http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/fact_sheets/pdfs/frog.pdf

 

PARC Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Southeastern United States: http://www.parcplace.org/habitat_management_guide.html

 

Previous WFS 433/533 Websites

Spring 2009:  http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/mgray/wfs493/493home2009.htm

Spring 2008:  http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/mgray/wfs493/493home2008.htm

Spring 2007:  http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/mgray/wfs493/493home2007.htm