U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Dusky Gopher Frog Fact Sheet (Rana sevosa)

Endangered Species Listing: Range: Habitat: In 2001, the dusky gopher frog The DGF is thought to have occurred The dusky gopher frog’s habitat distinct population segment (DPS) in at least nine counties or parishes includes both upland forested areas, was listed under the Endangered from Louisiana’s lower coastal plain historically dominated by longleaf pine, Species Act (Act) as an endangered east of the Mississippi River to the and temporary wetlands imbedded species. A DPS is a discrete and Mobile River delta in Alabama. It has within the forested landscape. Adult significant conservation sub-unit of a not been observed in Louisiana since and juvenile gopher frogs spend the species. An endangered species is one 1965 or in Alabama since 1922. The majority of their lives underground that is in danger of becoming extinct Dusky gopher frog is presently in forests with an open canopy and throughout all or a significant portion of known to survive in only Harrison and abundant ground cover. They currently its range. After an endangered species Jackson counties in Mississippi. use abandoned mammal burrows and is identified and protected under the holes in and under old pine tree stumps Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as below-ground retreats. In the past, endangered species program begins the historic dusky gopher frogs also used active work of restoring the species and its current and abandoned gopher tortoise habitat through the recovery process. burrows. However, due to the rarity of the tortoise, their burrows are not Louisiana currently available in habitat occupied Appearance: The dusky gopher frog (DGF) is a mid- Mississippi by the frogs. Gopher frog breeding sized, stocky, frog with a total body sites are isolated ponds which dry out length of about three inches. Its back is completely at certain times of the year giving them a temporary presence in covered with dark spots and warts, and ranges from black to brown or gray in the landscape. Substantial winter rains color. are needed to ensure that the ponds Threats: are filled sufficiently to allow hatching The primary threats to the DGF are and development of juvenile frogs. The habitat fragmentation/destruction, timing and frequency of rainfall are fire suppression, the low number critical to the successful reproduction of remaining individual frogs, and and recruitment of the DGF. environmental variability. Outside of occupied habitat and those areas managed as future translocation sites, Tupy potential gopher frog habitat continues

to decline through fragmentation and destruction, primarily as a result of ©John

: urbanization from residential and Tupy o commercial development. Frequent fires are necessary to maintain phot the open canopy and ground cover Adult dusky gopher frog (DGF) ©John

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vegetation of dusky gopher frog o Tadpoles are dark greenish brown with habitat. However, the use of fire as spotted round bodies and long, wide a management tool has declined due phot tails. They are difficult to tell apart to concerns about smoke and public DGF upland habitat from tadpoles of the more common safety in expanding urban areas. leopard frog. The low numbers of frogs in the

existing populations have increased the potential of genetic isolation aClaire L

Tupy and inbreeding. The combination of

decreasing amounts of suitable habitat and low population numbers makes Linda

©John

the Dusky gopher frog’s survival :

: o o more difficult in the face of extreme environmental events such as drought. phot phot DGF breeding habitat DGF tapdole

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

What has been done to work towards dusky gopher frog recovery?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been worked on a number of

recovery projects with the following Tupy partners: the Memphis Zoo along with other zoos involved in the American ©John

Zoo Association’s program for the : species, the U.S. Forest Service, the o Moody U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, phot

Ed Natural Resources Conservation : Service, Mississippi Natural Science o Tracking DGF at night using fluorescent powder Museum, The Nature Conservancy, phot and researchers with Southeastern Restoring ponds for use as DGF Louisiana University, University of relocation sites New Orleans, University of Southern Mississippi, Eastern Carolina University, and Eastern Kentucky

University. The recovery projects include:

Tupy

• Raising frogs from tadpoles in tanks placed adjacent to breeding Sisson ©John

sites.

:

o • Improving occupied sites through phot ©Mike

controlled burning and shrub :

removal. o Tracking DGF during the day using radio-telemetry (transmitter is black phot object at rear of frog) • Restoring currently unsuitable A newly constructed potential DGF temporary ponds for use as breeding pond relocation sites. How many dusky gopher frogs remain in the wild? • Holding a genetically diverse At this time, there is only one viable population in zoos and working on breeding population of the dusky gopher captive propagation. frog. Currently, six ponds are occupied by the dusky gopher frog as a result of • Establishing new populations in efforts to establish a population by the wild. translocating frogs from the primary breeding pond. The total dusky • Tracking gopher frogs in their gopher frog population in the wild is upland habitats using fluorescent estimated a minimum of 135 adults.

powder and radio-telemetry. The viability of this population is yet to be determined.

Reichling

©Steve

: o phot aClaire

L DGF tadpoles held in zoos

Linda

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phot Tanks for raising DGF tadpoles