Why should we care about juvenile and terrestrial phases for vernal-pool breeding amphibians? Juvenile wood frogs are the long-distance travelers of their species, keeping the gene pool healthy as they journey a half-mile or more from the vernal pools where they hatch to reach suitable terrestrial habitat. Britt Cline, PhD student in Wildlife Ecology at UMaine, is studying how forestry, agriculture, and suburban development affect the dispersal of juvenile wood frogs.
