• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.103-119
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• 2016

This study aims to assess habitat feature on the large-scale spawning ground of the Boreal Digging Frog Kaloula borealis in Daemyung retarding basin of Daegu, and to analyze the relationships between species abundance and meteorological factors for each habitat. Fifty-seven(57) pitfalls were installed to collect species abundance of 4 survey regions, and high-resolution satellite image, soil sampling equipment, digital topographic map, and GPS were used to develop habitat features such as terrain, soil, vegetation, human disturbance. The analysis shows that the frog is most abundant in sloped region with densely herbaceous cover in southern part of the retarding basin. In the breeding season, lowland regions, where Phragmites communis and P. japonica dominant wetlands and temporary ponds distributed, are heavily concentrated by the species for spawning and foraging. Located in between legally protected Dalsung wetands and lowland regions of the retarding basin, riverine natural levee is ecologically important area as core habitat for Kaloula borealis, and high number of individuals were detected both breeding and non-breeding seasons. Temperate- and pressure-related meteorological elements are selected as statistically significant variables in species abundance of non-breeding season in lowland and highland regions. However, in sloped regions, only a few variables are statistically significant during non-breeding season. Moreover, breeding activities in sloped regions are statistically significant with minimum temperature, grass minimum temperature, dew point temperature, and vapor pressure. Significant meteorological factors with habitat features are effectively applied to establish species conservation strategy of the retarding basin and to construct for avoiding massive road-kills on neighboring roads of the study sites, particularly post-breeding movements from spawning to burrowing areas.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.684-693
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• 2016

Daemyung retarding basin located near the confluence floodplain of the Nakdong and Kumho River is a large spawning site for the endangered Kaloula borealis, and needs for protecting the habitat of the endangered species are increasing. However, scientific studies are rarely conducted on the population characteristics and ecological knowledge on the species in the basin. This paper aims to estimate the population size and spatial distribution of the species that inhabited at the Daemyung retarding basin, using the capture-recapture method. Also, pitfall traps were installed in each habitat types classified with micro-topographic features, slope aspects, and vegetation communities to identify the spatial distribution characteristics of the Kaloula borealis of each habitat in the retarding basin. Field survey on the species was conducted from May 2013 to October 2014, showing that the species emerged in May, became more active during July and August and started to hibernate at the end of October. Using capture-recapture method, the first survey was carried out from July to August, 2014. Ninety-eight toads were captured, marked, and released back into the site. In the second survey, 68 toads including 5 marked toads of the previous survey were captured. Based on these two-sample surveys, around 535-2,131 individual toads are estimated to inhabit the Daemyung retarding basin. Fifty-seven pitfall traps were installed in four habitat types: mounded and vegetated flatland, lowland swamps, and slope areas of both the southern and western parts of the basin in order to delineate spatial abundance of the endangered Kaloula borealis during the rainy season when the species is actively spawning. Pitfall traps at the spatially explicit array indicated that the species gradually move to the slope areas near the Daemyung stream, showing high occurrence density of the Kaloula borealis compared to the lowland swamps after the spawning season. The emergence of Kaloula borealis in the lowland swamps appeared to be comparatively higher during the spawning season. However, after the spawning season the toads species rapidly moved into the neighboring land of relatively high elevation such as the slope area towards the Dalsung protected wetlands and Daemyung River. These results are closely related to the migration patterns that toads tend to return to the sheltering sites and/or hibernating grounds after the spawning season. Also, the Kaloula borealis moved to the nearest high-level vegetated areas as the lowland swamps of their spawning grounds deteriorated with the expansion of permanent ponds due to the rise in the groundwater level.