Karen R. Lips

OVERVIEW

The work of my lab is focused on the conservation and ecology of amphibians and reptiles, with interests at multiple scales - including population, community, and ecosystems - especially as they are affected by emerging infectious disease and global change.  Most of my research takes place at various field sites in Latin America.   Recently, I have become more interested in the ethical and policy implications of these declines and have become involved in global actions to conserve amphibians. Much of this work is by nature collaborative and multidisciplinary, involving various collaborators from various fields. Many existing projects examine the interactions among the frogs, the frog-killing fungus, and the environment to determine why some species decline, some go extinct, and others are not affected (IRCEB, SWIG).  Another group of projects determines the ecological impacts of amphibian population declines on other components of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (TADS).  A third group of projects deals with the policy implications (Aldo Leopold Leadership Program), conservation actions (ACAP), and educational outreach (RANA) aspects of the scientific projects.

I.  NEOTROPICAL AMPHIBIAN ECOLOGY
My research interests center on field ecology, population demography, and the evolution of life histories of anurans and reptiles.  I am particularly interested in determining the spatiotemporal variation in diversity and abundance of amphibians and reptiles in various communities, studying comparative population demography of tropical stream frogs, and quantifying the role of adult and larval amphibians in tropical and temperate ecosystems.   Most of my recent fieldwork involves studies of amphibian population declines, especially those of the Neotropics.  Most of my research and that of my lab focuses on comparative ecology of these diverse tropical faunas with the goal of using these data to understand differential patterns of decline.

A. Host-pathogen Ecology
Most recently, I have been working on determining the geographic and ecological patterns of amphibian declines in Latin America following several die-offs of wild amphibians at multiple sites.  By analyzing patterns of decline among species and across many sites, we hope to predict future declines of other populations at other sites and to prioritize research and conservation actions.  In Latin America, amphibian populations have suffered tremendous losses, many of which were apparently caused by disease from an aquatic frog-killing fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (“Bd”).  We are studying the prevalence of Bd in natural populations of amphibians and how ecology and environmental conditions vary individual and population responses to the fungus.

B.  Population & Community Ecology
We primarily work on tropical amphibian ecology at multiple upland sites in Latin America.  Some sites have already experienced declines and we resurvey transects to determine changes in amphibian populations.  Other sites have not experienced declines and at these sites we conduct various studies on these amphibians to establish differences in ecology between species predicted to survive and those predicted to decline.  At each site we 1) determine the diversity and abundance of adult amphibians and reptiles, 2) collect ecological data (reproductive parameters, longevity, movements) for the more common species through mark-recapture studies, and 3) document the abundance, diversity, habitat preferences, density, growth and development of embryonic and larval stages of amphibians.  Using these survey data we are building a species-specific database of habitat preference and abundance, and, for focal species, individual movement, gene flow, and fluctuating asymmetry.  Several past graduate students have studied the demography, population biology, and ecology of particular species of frogs.

C. Ecosystem Ecology
Given the abundance and diversity of frogs and tadpoles at tropical sites, the dual role of amphibians in the food web (insectivorous adults and herbivorous tadpoles), and the bimodal life cycle (terrestrial adults and aquatic larvae) the loss of a large portion of the amphibian biomass might have big impacts on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We are comparing tropical mountain stream foodwebs between healthy and decline sites, to determine the impact of amphibian declines on these ecosystems.  We have done small-scale removal experiments, are in the process of establishing the spatio-temporal variation in tadpole assemblages, and are beginning to quantify the trophic links between frogs and predatory snakes.

Lips, K. R., J. Diffendorfer, J. Mendelson, and M. Sears.  2008.  Riding the wave:  Climate change, emerging infectious disease and amphibian declines. Public Library of Science Biology 6(3): e72.  DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060072.

Sears, M., J. Diffendorfer, K. Lips, and J. Mendelson. 2008. Amphibian declines and issues of inference: response to Parmesan and Singer. Public Library of Science Biology 14 Apr 2008.

Brem, F. and K. R. Lips.  2008.  Patterns of infection by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis among species, habitats and elevations during epidemic and endemic stages.  Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (In press).

Whitfield, S. M., K. R. Lips, and M. A. Donnelly.  (In press). Amphibian conservation and amphibian decline in Central America.  In: Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Western Hemisphere H. Heatwole, C. Barrios-Amorós and J. Wilkinson (editors).  Volume 8B in: Amphibian Biology, H. Heatwole (ed.), Surrey Beatty and Sons, Pty. Ltd., Sydney. Australia.

Ryan, M. J., K. R. Lips, M. W. Eichholz.  2008. Decline and extirpation of an endangered Panamanian stream frog population (Craugastor punctariolus) due to an outbreak of chytridiomycosis.  Biological Conservation 141: 1636–1647.

Connelly, S., R. J. Bixby. C.M Pringle, R. Brenes, M. R. Whiles, K. R. Lips, S. Kilham, and A. D. Huryn.  2008.  Changes in stream primary producer communities resulting from loss of tadpoles: can small-scale experiments predict effects of large-scale catastrophic amphibian declines?  Ecosystems (In press). DOI: 10.1007/s10021-008-9191-7

Regester, K.J., M. R. Whiles, and K. R. Lips.  2008.  Variation in the trophic basis of production and energy flow associated with emergence of larval salamander assemblages (Ambystomatidae) from forest ponds.  Freshwater Biology 53:1754–67.

Colon-Gaud, C., S. Peterson, M. R. Whiles, S. S. Kilham, K. R. Lips, and C. M. Pringle.  2008.  Allochthonous litter inputs, organic matter standing stocks, and organic seston dynamics in upland Panamanian streams: potential effects of larval amphibians on organic matter dynamics.  Hydrobiologia 603:301–312.

Robertson, J. M., K. R. Lips, and E. Heist.  2008. Fine scale gene flow and individual movements among subpopulations of Centrolene prosoblepon (Anura: Centrolenidae).  Revista de Biología Tropical 56(1): 13–26.

Verburg, P., S. S. Kilham, C. M. Pringle, K. R. Lips, and D. L. Drake.  2007.  A pre-extirpation stable isotope study of an amphibian-dominated neotropical stream food web.  Journal of Tropical Ecology 23(6): 643–651. 

Ringia, A. and K. R. Lips.  2007.  Field and lab studies of reproduction, growth and development in Eurycea lucifuga.  Herpetologica  63(3):258–268.

Mendelson, J. R.  III, K. R. Lips, J. E. Diffendorfer, R. W. Gagliardo, G. B. Rabb, J. P. Collins, P. Daszak, R. Ibáñez, K. C. Zippel, S. N. Stuart, C. Gascon, H. R. DaSilva, P. Burrrowes, R. C. Lacy, F. Bolaños, L. A. Coloma, K. M. Wright, D. B. Wake.  2006.  Responding to Amphibian Loss: Response.  Science  314: 1541–42.

Mendelson, J. R. III, K. R. Lips, R. W. Gagliardo, G. B. Rabb, J. P. Collins, J. E. Diffendorfer, P. Daszak, R. Ibáñez D., K C. Zippel, D. P. Lawson, K. M. Wright, S. N. Stuart, C. Gascon, H. R. da Silva, P. A. Burrowes, R. L. Joglar, E. La Marca, S. Lötters, L. H. du Preez, C. Weldon, Alex Hyatt, J. V. Rodriguez-Mahecha, S. Hunt, H. Robertson, B. Lock, C. J. Raxworthy, D. R. Frost, R. C. Lacy, R. A. Alford, J. A. Campbell, G. Parra-Olea, F. Bolaños, J. J. Calvo Domingo, T. Halliday, J. B. Murphy, M. H. Wake, Luis A. Coloma, S. L. Kuzmin, M. S. Price, K. M. Howell, M. Lau, R. Pethiyagoda, M. Boone, M. J. Lannoo, A. R. Blaustein, A. Dobson, R. A. Griffiths, M. L. Crump, D. B. Wake, E. D. Brodie Jr.  2006.  Confronting amphibian declines and extinctions. Science 313: 48.

Lips, K. R., F. Brem, R. Brenes, J. D. Reeve, R. A. Alford, J. Voyles, C. Carey, A. Pessier, L. Livo, J. P. Collins. 2006. Infectious disease and global biodiversity loss: pathogens and enigmatic amphibian extinctions.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 103(9): 3165–3170.

Whiles, M. R., K. R. Lips, C. Pringle, S.S. Kilham, R. Brenes, S. Connelly, J. C. Colon Guad, M. Hunte-Brown, A. D. Huryn, C. Montgomery, and S. Peterson.  2006.  The consequences of amphibian population declines to the structure and function of neotropical stream ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4: 27–34.

Woodhams, D., J. Voyles, K. Lips, C. Carey, L. Rollins-Smith.  2006.  Predicted disease susceptibility in a Panamanian amphibian assemblage based on skin peptide defenses. Journal of Wildlife Disease. 42(2): 207–218.

Regester, K. J., K. R. Lips, and M. R. Whiles. 2006. Larval production, emergence production, and oviposition by salamanders (Ambystomatidae) contribute to energy flow between habitats in a forest ecosystem of southern Illinois.  Oecologia 147: 303–314.