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Another reason for the decline of the California Red-Legged Frog is road-kill accidents. Road-kill accidents occur because they migrate to different grounds. With human development habitat fragmentation creates obstacles, like roads that they must cross. The amount of road-killed California Red-Legged Frogs in relation to the decline in population is unknown. Documented cases of road-kill have been cited in several San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties (61 Federal Register 25825). Due to habitat fragmentation the California Red-Legged Frog no longer has a great deal of natural pathways to cross during migration to estivation habitat. It is important to recognize that with human development and urbanization, roadway incidents where California Red-Legged Frogs are killed, significantly decreases the overall population. |