Species and their Ecology

» Phylum: Chordata
» Class: Amphibia
» Order: Anura (formerly Salientia): Frogs and toads
» Order: Caudata (formerly Urodela): Salamanders
» Order: Gymnophiona: Caecelians

The U.S. is home to approximately 287 of the world's estimated 6,000 amphibian species. The number of known species changes periodically as new species are discovered and new genetic techniques (e.g. molecular genetics) allow scientists to distinguish among cryptic species.

Resources

National Amphibian Atlas.

Mark Roth
M. Roth (ARMI) installing an acoustic recorder and water-level and water-temperature loggers at an amphibian breeding site in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in WI. Photo by: P. Boma.
Grad Glorioso
B. Glorioso (ARMI) with American bullfrog in Atchafalaya Basin, LA conducting amphibian surveys. Photo by: L. Elston.

Amphibian Taxonomy

» Scientific and standard names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. (Crother, B.I. (chair). 2008. Publisher: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles)

» Amphibian species of the world 5.4, an online reference. (Frost, D. 2010. Publisher: American Museum of Natural History)

» Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians, turtles, reptiles and crocodillians. (Collins, J.T., and T.W. Taggart. 2009. Publisher: Center for North American Herpetology)

ARMI conducts research on the natural history of species; writing reports and describing the ecology of America's amphibians. ARMI also collaborates with federal and state partners to design, implement, and evaluate management actions that benefit T&E and other imperiled amphibian species.

Federal and State Partners: Information about the status, management, and conservation of amphibians is found throughout the ARMI web site [e.g. Products Database and Topics Sections]. Please consult the "National Amphibian Atlas" to identify the approximate range of the species of interest.

Species and their Ecology - ARMI Papers & Reports

Papers & Reports Incorporating location uncertainty improves inference with stop-level North American Breeding Bird Survey data
Authors: Ryan C Burner; Jeffrey A. Hostetler; Alan Kirschbaum
Date: 2026-05-22 | Outlet: Ornithological Applications
Covariate uncertainty is a challenge for monitoring ecological data. Here, we test a Bayesian method for accounting for covariate uncertainty in multi-species models using informative priors. We conduct a series of simulations to evaluate the effects of incorporating covariate uncertainty into models, using the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) dataset as a case study. This extensive database has annual bird point count data for over 100,000 locations annually, but the precise spatial coordinates of these locations are unknown. We find that an informative prior model produces substantially better inferences than does a simpler model that makes assumptions about locations and covariates.
Data Release Multi-species frog occupancy code
Authors: Ryan C Burner; Mark F Roth
Date: 2025-07-14 | Outlet: U.S. Geological Survey code release
This code processes frog and toad survey data from the upper Midwest and fits a Bayesian multi-species occupancy model that includes imperfect detection, species associations, and species traits. The focus in on changes in occupancy of Blanchard's cricket frog (Acris blanchardi) from the 2000s to 2024, and effects of land cover covariates on occupancy.
Data Release Amphibian nighttime call data from Midwest ARMI cricket frog surveys 2024
Authors: Mark F Roth; Aubrey A Schwonek; Jason Tendler; Ryan C Burner
Date: 2025-05-13 | Outlet: U.S. Geological Survey data release
Amphibian nighttime call data from Midwest ARMI surveys conducted in 2024 in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois. Many of the surveys were targeting potential Blanchard's cricket frog (Acris blanchardi) habitat.
View All Papers & Reports on Species and their Ecology

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