Judging Category
Observational Research
Student Rank
Senior
College
Sciences and Mathematics
Faculty Sponsor
Virginie Rolland, PhD vrolland@astate.edu
Description
Skin pattern as a potential monitoring tool for frog populations
Population monitoring, which requires identifying individuals, is crucial for species conservation. Common techniques involve marking, which can harm animals and alter their behaviors. Natural markings are an alternative not yet explored for amphibians. Yet, the traditional method with elastomers (fluorescent implants) is invasive and not completely reliable—the tag may become lost or hard to see. The American green tree frog (Dryophytes cinereus) possesses naturally occurring and distinct golden dots on their dorsal side. Therefore, we aim to assess whether patterns of golden dots on the skin of green tree frogs are unique and can serve as a noninvasive individual identification method or if they change over time. To do this, we captured, tagged, and photographed wild green tree frogs weekly in March 2026 at the Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center. Additionally, we captured 20 frogs that we kept in the lab and also photographed weekly. From images processed in GIMP and ImageJ, we will report on the presence and/or changes in the frogs’ skin patterns over time. With skin patterns being widely present in amphibians, this noninvasive and cost-effective method could be applied to other species and improve current conservation strategies by allowing for a more permanent population monitoring.
Disciplines
Biology | Population Biology
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Sagarnaga Rivera, Lídize; Rolland, Virginie Dr.; and Neuman-Lee, Lorin Dr., "Skin pattern as a potential monitoring tool for frog populations" (2026). Create@State. 23.
https://arch.astate.edu/evn-createstate/2026/posters/23
Included in
Skin pattern as a potential monitoring tool for frog populations
Skin pattern as a potential monitoring tool for frog populations
Population monitoring, which requires identifying individuals, is crucial for species conservation. Common techniques involve marking, which can harm animals and alter their behaviors. Natural markings are an alternative not yet explored for amphibians. Yet, the traditional method with elastomers (fluorescent implants) is invasive and not completely reliable—the tag may become lost or hard to see. The American green tree frog (Dryophytes cinereus) possesses naturally occurring and distinct golden dots on their dorsal side. Therefore, we aim to assess whether patterns of golden dots on the skin of green tree frogs are unique and can serve as a noninvasive individual identification method or if they change over time. To do this, we captured, tagged, and photographed wild green tree frogs weekly in March 2026 at the Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center. Additionally, we captured 20 frogs that we kept in the lab and also photographed weekly. From images processed in GIMP and ImageJ, we will report on the presence and/or changes in the frogs’ skin patterns over time. With skin patterns being widely present in amphibians, this noninvasive and cost-effective method could be applied to other species and improve current conservation strategies by allowing for a more permanent population monitoring.
