Predicted Occurrence of Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) across the Northeastern United States.

Effective conservation is becoming more difficult as threats to wildlife increase. Natural resource managers are pressured to make difficult decisions with limited resources, and in many instances, large uncertainty. Scientists and managers tasked with the conservation of a species need tools to help guide efficient decision-making. Often, information for management decisions is insufficient. Tools that help to inform decision makers and address uncertainty are invaluable to effective conservation initiatives. The objective of our study was to create a model to best predict Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) breeding occurrence across the northeastern United States. We estimated relationships between breeding newt field survey data and landscape-level covariates while accounting for imperfect detection. We then used those relationships to map expected newt breeding site occupancy across the northeastern United States. We find that newt breeding occupancy is inversely correlated to the amount of human influence in a landscape, highlighting a key existing threat to Eastern Newts that may be exacerbated by the introduction of novel pathogens, such as the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]