Habitat loss often refers to outright destruction of viable habitat and is sometimes distinguished from other forms of alteration such as habitat degradation and habitat fragmentation. Here, we refer to all of these forms of habitat alteration and provide examples of their effects on amphibians.

A recent assessment of the status of global amphibian populations identified habitat loss as the single greatest identifiable factor contributing to amphibian declines (Stuart et al. 2004). Habitat loss occurs for many reasons but notable purposes include residential, agricultural, arboricultural, or recreational development among other causes. Anthropogenic conversion of land has caused significant reductions in wetland, forest and grassland habitat which is required by amphibians for their survival (Dodd and Smith 2003). Outright habitat loss probably has the greatest effect on amphibians but habitat degradation, or the general decline in the health of a habitat, also affects amphibians and results from environmental contamination, the introduction of exotic invasive species, or a reduction in required resources within a habitat. Lastly, habitat fragmentation is often used to refer to the disruption or fragmentation of habitat into discontinuous or isolated remnants of viable habitat. Habitat fragmentation emerges from isolated patches of habitat loss and can often have delayed effects on animal populations.

Amphibians are unique among wildlife because their habitat requirements are usually two-fold. Many species require aquatic habitat elements for their larvae and adjacent continuous terrestrial elements for the remainder of their lives. Many temperate regions of North America and Europe have undergone significant historical land transformation that has undoubtedly affected amphibians. But one recent study shows that the current pace of anthropogenic habitat loss imperils the greatest diversity of amphibians in tropical rain forests, moist tropical forests, and temperate broadleaf forest ecoregions (Gallant et al. 2007). Nevertheless, care must be taken to ensure sustainable development and land use anywhere that amphibians occur if their populations are to persist. For more information on habitat loss and amphibian declines, please use our resource viewer below.