Treefrog response data from and assessment of short-term impacts of prescribed fire in Central Florida

This data publication contains tabular data from an assessment of the short-term impacts of prescribed fire on the dynamics of an upland flatwoods specialist, the pinewoods treefrog Dryophytes femoralis, using a replicated before-after-control-impact field experiment in Central Florida. We set PVC pipes as treefrog refugia at 3 meters (m), 6 m, 9 m, and 9+ m in 12 pine trees spread evenly across two treatments: reference trees in units burned in 2020 and trees in units with 2021 prescribed fire. Prescribed fires occurred April 16 and July 21, 2021. Every two weeks between March 5 and September 5 we checked pipes for frogs and assigned them unique color marks. We collected tree and environmental data, frog data, and capture/recapture data. We later modeled abundance (as raw counts), survival, and vertical movement using mark-recapture methods, multi-state, and mixed linear models with a Bayesian framework.
Pine flatwoods of the southeastern United States were shaped by frequent fires. Today, land managers use prescribed fires to control fuels but also to restore historical lightning-caused fire dynamics. Broad outcomes of this practice are well-understood, but impacts on many organisms are still being explored. Frogs, for example, have upland and wetland requirements, limited mobility, and skin susceptible to desiccation. Treefrogs spend most of their lives in uplands away from water. When fire approaches, animals may escape to an unburned area, shelter or hide in place, or be killed by the fire. We examined which of these mechanisms is the prevailing short-term response dynamic for persistence of a specialist treefrog in a pyrogenic flatwoods system.

本数据集出版物包含了一项针对计划火烧对高地平坦林专性物种——松林雨滨蛙（Dryophytes femoralis）种群动态的短期影响开展评估所获得的表格数据，该研究采用了重复设置的控制-影响-前后对照野外试验设计，试验地点位于美国佛罗里达州中部。我们在均匀分布于两个处理组的12棵松树的3米、6米、9米及9米以上高度处安装聚氯乙烯（PVC）管作为雨滨蛙的庇护所。两个处理组分别为：2020年已实施火烧的对照样地中的树木，以及2021年开展计划火烧的样地中的树木。本次计划火烧分别于2021年4月16日与7月21日进行。在3月5日至9月5日期间，我们每两周对管道内的蛙类开展一次检查，并为每只个体标记唯一的颜色编码标识。我们收集了树木与环境数据、蛙类个体数据以及捕获-重捕数据。后续研究采用标记重捕法（mark-recapture）、多状态模型（multi-state）以及贝叶斯框架（Bayesian framework）下的混合线性模型，对蛙类丰度（以原始计数计）、存活率及垂直移动情况进行了建模分析。

美国东南部的平坦松林生态系统曾受频繁野火塑造。如今，土地管理者通过计划火烧来调控燃料负荷，同时恢复历史上由雷击引发的野火动态。这一管理实践的宏观效应已得到充分认知，但其对诸多生物类群的具体影响仍有待深入探究。以蛙类为例，它们兼具高地与湿地生存需求，活动能力有限，且皮肤易发生脱水。树蛙一生中的大部分时间都栖息于远离水源的高地环境中。当野火逼近时，动物可能会逃逸至未火烧区域、就地躲避或被火烧致死。本研究旨在探明，在火驱动的平坦林生态系统中，专性树栖蛙类的短期存活响应机制中哪一种占据主导地位。