Considering their body size, habitat needs, and modes of dispersal, some amphibian species undergo migrations equally as staggering as those of Caribou or Sandhill cranes. Most migrating amphibians are aquatic-breeding species, moving seasonally between their breeding habitats and their foraging and/or sheltering habitats. 'Habitat split' is a term to describe the situation when those habitats become severed by human development, like roads or farms, potentially making the migration more challenging, risky, or even impossible. Carvalho et al. (2025) investigated how habitat split might impact the occurrence and abundance of amphibians using individual-based models. Focusing on the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and a series of hypothetical landscapes representing different degrees of habitat split, they simulated occurrence and abundance over time for aquatic- and terrestrial-breeding species. They validated their models by comparing their results with field survey data for 18 endemic amphibian species from the focal study area. They found that both terrestrial- and aquatic-breeding amphibians decline in disturbed areas with high habitat split, but that declines were disproportionately higher for aquatic-breeding amphibians. Their work draws attention to the need for land-based conservation strategies that reduce the distance seasonally-migrating amphibians must cross, and reduce their risk in cases where they must cross intervening development.

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