ABSTRACT
Human-mediated climate change offers the greatest challenge to life on Earth, and assessing the impacts of a shifting climate on species, especially threatened and endangered species, has become a top priority for conservation biologists. This chapter addresses the response of Crawfish Frogs to short-term variations in temperature and precipitation driven, in part, by climate change, by addressing question: Is there evidence for the timing of breeding shifts in response to drought conditions? Crawfish Frog defensive behaviors and perhaps their head shape are tied to burrow occupancy, and Jen has estimated that a Crawfish Frog away from its burrow is 12 times more likely to be preyed upon than a frog at its burrow. Crawfish Frogs are active any time of the year under favorable conditions—they do not exhibit any form of hibernation or winter torpor—and activity uncoupled from prey availability can reduce body mass values.
