Adrian Macedo is in his third year as a PhD student at SIUC. His research involves an inventory of the reptile and amphibian communities of Buttonland Swamp and research evaluating how water level changes many influence the herpetofauna. Specifically, he is studying the anuran breeding phenology, and larval herpetofaunal community structure across habitats with varying hydrology, and specific studies on occupancy patterns of Lesser Siren and Cope’s Gray Tree Frog. He is also studying the microbiome and immune function of snakes just prior, during, and after hibernation in the Cache River of southern Illinois.
Floodplain ponds are a dynamic and biodiverse habitat, often overlooked by those focused on recreation and hunting and fishing. However, they provide an excellent system to study how changing water levels in the swamp may influence amphibian populations. Adrian is studying the amphibian populations of these ponds to try to understand how habitat features such as hydrology, fish and insect predators, and canopy cover influence Amphibian communities.