Life History Trait Values for 31 Species of Amphibians in the North Central United States

Amphibians are thought to be vulnerable to the effects of climate change, but often they are understudied. This makes assessing the potential vulnerability of amphibians to climate change difficult. We designed a study to evaluate potential vulnerability of amphibians to climate change based on their exposure to drying effects (evapotranspiration deficit), along with their sensitivity to increased drying and capacity to adapt to this change. We used a climate change vulnerability assessment framework to score relative vulnerability of amphibian species to climate change in the north-central United States based on both climate projections, life history traits, and other species characteristics. Sensitivity and adaptive capacity metrics were made up of both life history traits and characteristics of a species' environment, such as habitat breadth. This spreadsheet contains life history trait values and species characteristics for 31 species of amphibians, compiled from 8 different data sources. All species are listed as Species of Greatest Conservation Need in at least one of 7 states in the North Central United States: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.