. The changing Illinois environment : critical trends : technical report of the Critical Trends Assessment Project. Man; Pollution; Environmental protection; Ecology; Environmental impact analysis. WETLANDS Missouri and Indiana (Korte and Fredrickson 1977, Whitaker and Arbell 1986). Amphibians. Amphibians are an important component of many ecosystems. They can constitute a large proportion of the total vertebrate biomass of an ecologi- cal community (Burton and Likens 1975). They also are a vital link in food webs. Amphibians are major consum- ers of arthropods, mollusks, and annelids, and the
. The changing Illinois environment : critical trends : technical report of the Critical Trends Assessment Project. Man; Pollution; Environmental protection; Ecology; Environmental impact analysis. WETLANDS Missouri and Indiana (Korte and Fredrickson 1977, Whitaker and Arbell 1986). Amphibians. Amphibians are an important component of many ecosystems. They can constitute a large proportion of the total vertebrate biomass of an ecologi- cal community (Burton and Likens 1975). They also are a vital link in food webs. Amphibians are major consum- ers of arthropods, mollusks, and annelids, and they can have a significant role in insect control. Amphibians, in turn, are an important source of food for many predatory fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Because the life history of most amphibians includes both aquatic and terrestrial stages, 37 of the 41 amphibian species that occur in Illinois use wetland habitats at least part of the time (Smith 1961; Conant and Collins 1991; RA. Brandon, Southern Dlinois University, personal communication; CA. Phillips, Washington University, personal communication) (Figure 41, Appendix 5). Most salamanders are aquatic as larvae and terrestrial as adults, although adults require moist microclimatic conditions because of their susceptibility to desiccation. Twenty species of salamanders occur in Illinois (Morris etal. 1983, Phillips 1991), and most of these (16) use wetland habitats at least for breeding and larval develop- ment. The ambystomatid salamanders (eight species) are terrestrial or fossorial as adults; most of these species inhabit swamps or floodplain forest, although some may also occur in moist, wooded upland areas (Smith 1961). All use permanent ponds or vernal pools for breeding. The adult eastern newt has both terrestrial and aquatic stages, with the aquatic form occurring in ponds and marshes (Smith 1961). Three Illinois plethodontids are completely terrestrial (no aquatic larval stage) and typically are found on wooded
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