Landscape ecology of an amphibian community in southern Quebec, Canada

This thesis investigated the factors governing pond-breeding amphibian life stage occurrences at multiple sites within a 467-hectare forest at Mont-Saint-Gregoire, Quebec, during 2006 and 2007. Several environmental, landscape characteristics and predator occurrences were tested using different statistical analyses to predict occurrence of these life stages. Life stages responded to different conditions and were not predicted by the same factors. Recruitment can be successful only if conditions are suitable for all life stages. Recruitment was poorly predicted by the detection of breeding adults, while it was better predicted by that of eggs and tadpoles. Different species also responded differently to environmental and biotic conditions, and what was required by amphibia as a taxon was not accurate for predicting population dynamics of individual species. We attempted to study dispersal patterns of three species, but the breeding season of 2007 was brief due to exceptional weather conditions and, thus, no pattern could be detected. These findings illustrate the complexity of pond-breeding amphibian population dynamics and the need for further long-term, multivariate and multi-species studies.