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Species account

We surveyed all passages in Gregory's Cave, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 16 times from 1998 to 2000 as part of an amphibian inventory and monitoring program. Standardized visual encounter techniques were used. Three species of salamanders and five species of frogs were observed, but only the Long-tailed Salamander and the Northern Slimy Salamander were observed beyond the twilight zone (to 45 and 87 m from the opening, respectively). Counts varied annually and monthly, with the majority of individuals being observed in April and from late summer to autumn. Larval Long-tailed Salamanders probably rarely complete metamorphosis because of limited food supplies and desiccation of breeding pools. We visited all other limestone caves within the park in addition to surveys in Gregory's Cave. The Cave Salamander and the Southern Zigzag Salamander are found only in localized, restricted habitats, that is, in caves and in limestone sinks; both are absent from Cades Cove. We provide a summary of unpublished and new occurrence records for cave-associated amphibians within the Great Smokies. Counts by themselves probably have little value in monitoring cave populations of salamanders. However, visual encounter surveys might be useful in interpreting behavior, understanding factors affecting habitat use, and in detecting trends in cave-inhabiting amphibians when used in conjunction with species richness indices over a much larger area. Biologists and resource managers must take a regional approach in order to detect trends and to monitor the status of amphibian habitat specialists, especially cave-inhabiting salamanders.

Book

A critical variable in both ecological and conservation field studies is determining how many individuals of a species are present within a defined sampling area. Labor intensive techniques such as capture-mark-recapture and removal sampling may provide estimates of abundance, but there are many logistical constraints to their widespread application. Many studies on terrestrial and aquatic salamanders use counts as an index of abundance, assuming that detection remains constant while sampling. If this constancy is violated, determination of detection probabilities is critical to the accurate estimation of abundance. Recently, a model was developed that provides a statistical approach that allows abundance and detection to be estimated simultaneously from spatially and temporally replicated counts. We adapted this model to estimate these parameters for salamanders sampled over a six year period in area-constrained plots in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Estimates of salamander abundance varied among years, but annual changes in abundance did not vary uniformly among species. Except for one species, abundance estimates were not correlated with site covariates (elevation, soil and water pH, conductivity, air and water temperature). The uncertainty in the estimates was so large as to make correlations ineffectual in predicting which covariates might influence abundance. Detection probabilities also varied among species and sometimes among years for the six species examined. We found such a high degree of variation in our counts and in estimates of detection among species, sites, and years as to cast doubt upon the appropriateness of using count data to monitor population trends using a small number of area-constrained survey plots. Still, the model provided reasonable estimates of abundance that could make it useful in estimating population size from count surveys.

Population declines of amphibians and reptiles throughout the world have led to the initiation of projects to monitor their status and trends. Historical collections give an indication of which species occurred in an area at one time, although the ambiguity surrounding locations and environmental conditions associated with collection decreases the value of this information source. Resampling using the same general protocols can give valuable insights to changes in community structure. However, this is only feasible when sampling methodology and exact site locations are known. From 2002–2005 we resampled 12 sites in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida's panhandle, an area in which intensive herpetological surveys were conducted in 1977–1979. We documented a general decrease in species richness among the diversely managed sites, changes in dominant species and diversity and an increasing trend toward homogeneity of the herpetofaunal community among habitats. Changes were attributed to four causes: 28-y of forest community succession, changes in management practices, non-detection of species due to variation in sampling conditions and a decrease in occupancy by four amphibians and three reptiles. The use of population and habitat-related indexes helped define possible influences on community change and can be used to target species for monitoring. Declines of these seven species are of concern, especially considering the protected status of the refuge and its increasing isolation as surrounding landscapes are converted to urbanized settings.

We conducted an intensive inventory of Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge in coastal Georgia to determine the feasibility of establishing an amphibian monitoring program at this location. Thirteen semi-aquatic amphibian species were identified at 21 locations. Amphibian species richness at Harris Neck was similar to that of nearby barrier islands. The amphibian fauna of Harris Neck has long been affected by human-induced landscape changes, including the inadvertent introduction of tadpoles from distant fish hatcheries and the creation of artificial impoundments. Land-use history provides important information necessary to understand current amphibian distribution, especially when census data are used to establish a baseline from which to monitor future status and trends.

Book chapter

Book chapter