Share your observations of plants or non-game animals with the Natural Heritage Inventory
Help care for rare plants and animals by ordering an Endangered Resources plate.
Photo by Robert Hay, WDNR
Mink Frog (Lithobates septentrionalis), a species of Special Concern, prefers rivers and lakes with bog shoreline habitats. They are a shoreline-dependent species but also forage on and around floating mats of vegetation away from the shoreline in the littoral zone. They may sometimes be found in permanent waters where no bog characteristics exist, although they are usually associated with tannin-stained waters. Mink frogs overwinter in water to avoid freezing. They are active from April through October and breed form June through July. Larvae overwinter before transforming the following summer.
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for Mink Frog (Lithobates septentrionalis). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | SC/H |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S3 |
| Global Rank | G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
A guidance document is not available at this time. Use the information from the other tabs and contact local biologists, as needed, to develop management and avoidance strategies.
Click to view a larger version. Please considering donating a photo to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program for educational uses. Photo use
Mink Frog
Photo © A.B. Sheldon.
Photo by Robert Hay, WDNR.
Photo © Dan Nedrelo.
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with Mink Frog. Only natural communities for which Mink Frog is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for Mink Frog. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
| Ecological landscape | score |
|---|---|
| North Central Forest | 3 |
| Northeast Sands | 3 |
| Northern Highland | 3 |
| Northwest Lowlands | 3 |
| Superior Coastal Plain | 3 |
| Northwest Sands | 2 |
| Forest Transition | 1 |
| Northern Lake Michigan Coastal | 1 |
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.