Information on amphibian responses to fire and fuel reduction practices is critically needed due to potential declines of species and the prevalence of new, more intensive fire management practices in North American forests. The goals of this review are to summarize the known and potential effects of fire and fuels management on amphibians and their aquatic habitats, and to identify information gaps to help direct future scientific research. Amphibians as a group are taxonomically and ecologically diverse; in turn, responses to fire and associated habitat alteration are expected to vary widely among species and among geographic regions.Available data suggest that amphibian responses to fire are spatially and temporally variable and incompletely understood. Much of the limited research has addressed short-term (1-3 yr) effects of prescribed fire on terrestrial life stages of amphibians in the southeastern United States.Information on the long-term negative effects of fire on amphibians and the importance of fire for maintaining amphibian communities is sparse for the high number of taxa in North America.Given the size and severity of recent wildland fires and the national effort to reduce fuels on federal lands, future studies are particularly needed to examine the effects of these landscape disturbances on amphibians. We encourage studies to address population-level responses of amphibians to fire by examining how different life stages are affected by changes in aquatic, riparian, and upland habitats. Research designs need to be rigorous and credible, yet provide information that is relevant for fire managers and those responsible for assessing the potential effects of various fuels reduction alternatives on rare, sensitive, and endangered amphibian species.

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