GARY
BUCCIARELLI
Ecologist
Evolutionary Biologist
AMPHIBIAN CONSERVATION
A conservation management plan for amphibians of the Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles, California
The goal of this project is to understand how amphibians are using the landscape and to potentially identify breeding populations of concern. I will use next-generation sequencing techniques to capture numerous genetic loci from three amphibian species and use those genetic markers to assess diversity, connectivity, and gene flow between breeding sites. In collaboration with the National Park Service, these data will help identify habitat and breeding populations that may be of conservation priority.
The Santa Monica Mountains
A montage of images I put together; the Pacific side of the range as viewed from Piuma Canyon, looking southeast.
A focal species of the study
This is one of the tree frog species that will be studied in this project, Pseudacris cadeverina. It is a stream-breeding specialist, and its patterns will be compared to a generalist breeder.
Point Dume
Spring in the coastal area of the Santa Monica Mountains. The bright yellow of Coreopsis gigantea is electrifying.
Pseudacris tadpole
This individual is close to completing metamorphosis and leaving the water. This Pseudacris species is a generalist breeder. Here, eggs were laid in an ephemeral pool in the mountains.