The aims of this project are to 1) determine boreal toad (anaxyrus boreas boreas) presence using environmental DNA (edna) in the trout lakes region of the carson national forest new mexico 2)…

The aims of this project are to 1) determine boreal toad (anaxyrus boreas boreas) presence using environmental DNA (edna) in the trout lakes region of the carson national forest new mexico 2) examine boreal toad presence in relation to amphibian diseases batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (BD) and ranavirus and 3) explore the effects of climate change on boreal toad habitat suitability in NM. The boreal toad is a species of greatest conservation need (sgcn) and is listed as state endangered in NM. Environmental loss of suitable aquatic habitats and disease are two of the leading causes of decline in amphibian populations especially small isolated populations such as that of the boreal toad in NM. Thus investigating both disease presence and habitat suitability are crucial to finding areas that can support viable populations into the future. Up to forty 250 ML water samples will be collected from perennial waterbodies on four transects in the carson national forest in RIO arriba county in 2025 and again in 2026. Water samples will be filtered and appropriate genetic techniques will be used to extract edna from the solid residue and determine focal species presence. Boreal toads and other amphibians encountered in the field will be swabbed to collect samples to test for the presence of BD and ranavirus. Edna will be extracted from the swabs and run through BD and ranavirus qpcr assays to determine pathogen presence. To develop habitat suitability models boreal toad occurrence data will be obtained from the global biodiversity information facility (gbif) and cleaned in consultation with species experts. Environmental variables related to atmospheric changes solar radiation and topography will be selected from appropriate databases and their importance to the broad scale distribution of the species determined. Species distribution modeling techniques will be used to project the expansion or contraction of suitable boreal toad habitat under four future climate scenarios. The information gathered under this grant will be used to inform future adaptive management and conservation actions for the boreal toad.