Welcome to the Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) one of the premier scientific field stations in North America. For more than 60 years, researchers and students have gathered at QUBS to conduct research and participate in courses spanning ecology, evolution, conservation and environmental biology.

Featured Researcher

Samantha Klaus  

Project title: Microclimatic predictors of call phenology of eastern Ontario frogs.

(Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Lougheed - Queen's University)

Amphibians are considered indicators of ecosystem health because of their sensitivity to environmental change due in part to their semi-permeable skin and aquatic developmental requirements. Mirroring many other taxa, temperate frog species in recent years have increasingly initiated their breeding seasons earlier, presumably in response to higher mean daily temperatures and the earlier onset of spring. Conventional studies of climate change to date have used anecdotal records of environmental trends to interpret phenological events.

Despite the insight that this approach has provided, it is not ideal because the data are often too broad-scale or piecemeal to allow detailed insights into factors that affect breeding behaviour. For example, many species of frogs occur in a variety of semi-aquatic ecosystems, suggesting that different conspecific populations may be subject to different environmental influences. Studying climatic variation at a local and regional scale simultaneously could help to attain greater accuracy at predicting frog phenology and to understand which factors best predict the onset and peak of breeding. My master’s research aims to quantitatively assess the effects of multiple abiotic environmental factors on calling activity of an anuran community on a small scale (daily) for an entire breeding season. Variables of interest include how annual variation in temperature, dew point and relative humidity influences species’ abundance of calling males. Male chorusing intensity will act as a measure of reproductive effort for the species.
In 2008, 12 automated survey stations were established; each consisting of a digital audio recorder programmed to record choruses at dusk, and a data loggers to measure relative humidity and air temperature. In 2009 (beginning in March), the number of survey sites increased to 21. In 2010, 19 of the sites were revisited from the previous year. In 2011 the survey expanded at the northern and southern parts of the sampling area, totaling 25 sites, and included soil and water temperature gauges in 10 locations as well as rain temperature gauges at 3 locations. This year I have put out 26 stations beginning again in March and will be obtaining relative humidity, air, soil and water temperature readings at nearly all locations. Many of these locations across years have been placed in wetlands within and surrounding the biological station as well as in national parks.

I hope these long-term data will provide key insights into the proximate factors that control initiation of breeding for eastern Ontario anurans, and enhance the possibility for adaptive responses to changing temperature regimes. My study also will allow for more accurate predictions of anuran responses to continued climate change. If you would like to learn more about my research, you can contact me at 9sk33@queensu.ca.