Drought, Deluge and Declines: The Impact of Precipitation
Extremes on Amphibians in a Changing Climate
Susan C. Walls 1,*, William J. Barichivich 1 and Mary E. Brown 2
1 Southeast Ecological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 7920 NW 71st Street, Gainesville,
FL 32653, USA; E-Mail: wbarichivich@usgs.gov
2 Cherokee Nation Technology Solutions, Contracted to U.S. Geological Survey, Southeast
Ecological Science Center, 7920 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, FL 32653, USA;
E-Mail: mbrown@usgs.gov
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: swalls@usgs.gov;
Tel.: +1-352-264-3507.
Received: 9 February 2013; in revised form: 28 February 2013 / Accepted: 1 March 2013 /
Published: 11 March 2013
Abstract: The Class Amphibia is one of the most severely impacted taxa in an on-going
global biodiversity crisis. Because amphibian reproduction is tightly associated with the
presence of water, climatic changes that affect water availability pose a particularly
menacing threat to both aquatic and terrestrial-breeding amphibians. We explore the
impacts that one facet of climate change