Helping Restore Endangered Gopher Frog Populations Across the Carolinas
The future of the gopher frog, one of the Southeast's rarest amphibians, depends on more than protecting a single species. It requires restoring longleaf pine ecosystems, improving habitat connectivity, and bringing together partners across state lines to support recovery.
Through the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund, 91°µÍø (IP) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) are helping advance conservation efforts that are improving habitat, supporting scientific research, and strengthening gopher frog populations across the Carolinas.
Project Highlights
- 91°µÍø and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are supporting longleaf pine restoration and gopher frog recovery across North Carolina and South Carolina through the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund.
- The gopher frog is a state-listed endangered species in both states and in need of conservation support. Approximately 1,000 head-started gopher frogs have already been released this summer.
- Researchers collected 24 egg clutches from a North Carolina population and reared 50 tadpoles from each clutch, producing a total of 1,200 tadpoles.
- New genetic research has made it possible to safely move frogs across state lines, creating new opportunities to strengthen declining populations through regional collaboration.
- Funding supports frog releases, habitat restoration planning, monitoring, research, students, and technicians while helping partners better understand what drives successful species recovery.
- The project has launched restoration planning across more than 11,000 acres at the Savannah River Site, improving habitat for gopher frogs and many other longleaf-dependent species.
Working Together to Support an Imperiled Species
When drought limited breeding across much of the gopher frog's range this year, conservation partners faced a difficult reality. In South Carolina, only one breeding attempt was documented and the eggs did not survive. But one population in North Carolina produced enough tadpoles to create an opportunity years of collaboration had made possible.
With support from IP and the NFWF through the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund, researchers and conservation partners collected portions of 24 egg clutches from a North Carolina population and reared 50 tadpoles from each clutch, resulting in approximately 1,200 tadpoles. The tadpoles were raised at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in South Carolina, and nearly 1,000 young frogs have already been released to help strengthen one of only two remaining gopher frog populations in the state.
Giving Frogs a Better Chance
Head-starting, a conservation strategy for gropher frogs, gives young frogs a better opportunity to survive one of the most vulnerable stages of their lives. Researchers raise tadpoles in protected outdoor tanks before releasing them into suitable habitat once they develop into juveniles. Over time, the goal is to increase the number of frogs that reach maturity and return to wetlands to breed.
This year also marked an important milestone for the recovery effort. Recent genetic research found that many gopher frog populations across the Carolinas are genetically similar enough to support carefully planned movement among populations. That finding gave partners greater confidence to work across state lines, creating new opportunities to strengthen declining populations when breeding is successful in one area but limited in another.
When breeding fell short in South Carolina, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher were able to share eggs from a population that had reproduced successfully. For the first time, gopher frogs were moved across state lines, allowing partners to respond to one state's successful breeding season while helping strengthen a declining population in another.
The gopher frog may not be federally listed, but it is already in serious trouble, and waiting could make recovery much harder. The willingness of IP and NFWF to invest in this tiny species year after year has made a huge difference, helping this work move forward and giving us a clearer path toward recovery.
A Foundation for Long-Term Recovery
Researchers are also preparing to radio-track 60 frogs across three areas with different habitat conditions. The study will help the team better understand how forest thinning, prescribed fire, and the availability of underground shelter influence movement and survival, helping guide future restoration and release decisions.
The effort extends beyond species recovery alone. The project is supporting a broader habitat management plan covering approximately 11,000 acres at the Savannah River Site. Researchers and land managers are working alongside the U.S. Forest Service, The Longleaf Alliance, and other partners to restore pine uplands, understory habitat, and wetlands throughout the landscape.
Carefully timed prescribed burns play a critical role in this work. Land managers coordinate around breeding activity, wetland conditions, and planned frog releases to ensure habitat management supports the needs of the species. And the benefits can be seen almost immediately. Recently burned areas are already providing natural shelter for young frogs following their release.
With these prescribed burns in this wetland forest, we now have so much refuge to release frogs into. You put a frog near a little hole or crevice, and it is gone within seconds. This is what the team did for us.
Benefits Beyond a Single Species
The habitat improvements are expected to support many other longleaf-dependent species, including southern hognose snakes, pine snakes, tiger salamanders, ornate chorus frogs, Bachman's sparrows, and red-cockaded woodpeckers.
The success of this work is also inspiring additional conservation action. Efforts on public lands have encouraged a neighboring private landowner to begin restoring wetland and upland forest habitat on their property with guidance from conservation partners like The Longleaf Alliance and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Increasing the number of restored wetlands throughout the landscape provides more breeding opportunities for frogs while helping strengthen ecosystem resilience.
Building a Better Future for Longleaf Landscapes
Recovery will take time, but the progress being made today is helping build a stronger future for the gopher frog and the longleaf ecosystems it depends on.
Through collaboration among conservation organizations, researchers, land managers, and funding partners, each frog released means more frogs returning to wetlands to breed and thrive in a healthier longleaf habitat, and it represents another step toward healthier populations, more resilient habitat, and thriving forests across the Carolinas.
