Long-term habitat changes in a protected area: Implications for herpetofauna habitat management and restoration.

ABSTRACT: Point Pelee National Park, located at the southern-most tip of Canada's mainland, historically supported a large number of herpetofauna species; however, despite nearly a century of protection, six snake and five amphibian species have disappeared, and remaining species-at-risk populations are thought to be in decline. We hypothesized that long-term changes in availability and distribution of critical habitat types may have contributed to the disappearance of herpetofauna. To track habitat changes we used aerial image data spanning 85 years (1931-2015) and manually digitized and classified image data using a standardized framework. Change-detection analyses were used to evaluate the relative importance of proportionate loss and fragmentation of 17 habitat types. Marsh habitat diversity and

SUBMITTER: Markle CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5812606 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature