Blue-spotted x Jefferson Salamander Population Monitoring

Blue-spotted x Jefferson hybrid Salamander

Blue-spotted x Jefferson hybrid Salamander is protected and listed in Connecticut as an endangered species.  This species inhabits White Memorial and due to it's protected status we monitor this population using a couple of methods.  We document breeding in vernal pools and other water bodies that this species uses for laying their eggs.  Cover boards are placed in or near appropriate habitats.  Finally, we record all other observations because every observation of this species tell us more.

I wanted to share with you some analysis from the cover board monitoring program in this post.  Caitlin MacGinitie and her mother Mary Gendron checked the cover boards each month between April to September from 2007 - 2010.  We have a total of 8 cover board plots located around the Museum, Duck Pond, and Windmill Hill vicinity.  Caitlin and Mary checked the cover board plots a total of 152 visits over 4 years.  Thier dedication was remarkable and we thank them for it.  I also want to acknowledge Faye Curran for her help with collating the data so that we could conduct this initial analysis.

The average number of salamanders observed per cover
board plot increased each month from April to September.  

I computed the average number of salamanders observed per cover board plot for each month through the 4 years.  An interesting pattern emerged from the data.  The number of salamanders increased as the summer season progressed.  When we check the boards in the later part of summer, most of the salamanders are young of the year animals emerging from the breeding habitat.  This indicates that cover boards might be a useful tool for monitoring Blue-spotted x Jefferson hybrid Salamanders productivity of breeding habitats.  This will give us the ability to monitor how many juveniles are added to the population each year.  Currently, our encounter rate is quite low.  We need to increase our survey effort so that we can measure the proportion of animals that survive each winter to reproduce the following spring.

Caitlin and Mary have done their part and decided to retire when it came time for Caitlin to pursue a Bachelor of Science at Vassar College.  Now we need your help to carry the torch.  If you are interested in helping with this project please contact James Fischer, WMCC Research Director.

Invasive Plant Patrol Controls Fig Buttercup (a.k.a. Lesser Celandine)

Jeff Greenwood, WMCC Education Director, brought his Invasive Plant Patrol to help with pulling and controlling Fig Buttercup (Ranunculus ficaria).  We have only detected one population of this invasive plant on the property.  Early detection of this plant increases our chances of controlling it and preventing it from becoming established throughout the property.  The Patrol used hand trowels, garden shovels, and buckets to remove small patches of Fig Buttercup by hand.  The Patrol also learned how to distinguish between other invasive species and native plants found in proximity with this invasive plant.  Faye Curran helped us with removing the plants closest to Bantam River, which are most likely to disperse to other favorable habitat for Fig Buttercup.

Hand-pulled Fig Buttercup, an invasive plant, destined for the dumpster.

Work was accomplished by Mr. Greenwood's Invasive Plant Patrol.

Hand trowels and elbow grease are the best tools to remove small patches of Fig Buttercup.

Amphibian Cover-board Monthly Check -- November 2011

Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Winter is here or at least the amphibian's behavior suggests it has arrived.  We encountered only 7 Redback Salamanders during Friday's visit to the grid.  Faye Curran and Abby Conroy helped with today's check and we were all thrilled to see the few salamanders that we observed.  The temperature was about 35 degrees Fahrenheit with a clear sky and only a slight breeze.  All of the salamanders were observed under cover-board stations under deciduous tree cover.  I think this is due in large part to the lack of leaves in the trees to shade the ground which exposes the ground to more solar radiation.  The cover-boards under the conifer canopy were very shaded and would have been cooler.  Thanks to Faye and Abby for a solid day's work, especially since we observed so few salamanders and it was rather chilly.  This will likely be our last check for the 2011 calendar year.  Check back to see when we return to the grid.

Introducing Faye Curran: Our New Student Intern

Faye Curran

Faye will be working with us over the next several months to gain practical experience in science.  She graduated from Wamogo Regional High School with several Advanced Placement credits in June and wants to attend the University of New Hampshire. She is interested in a career in Genetic Counseling and during her "gap" year is working as a child caregiver at a daycare center.  Faye has monitored neotropical migratory songbird populations in the Costa Rican rain forests and studied the periphyton and water chemistry in several of Connecticut's rivers.  She is currently helping us with sampling chytrid fungus on White Memorial's amphibian population.  With all of Faye's experiences, we are looking forward to her contributions to the program.

Amphibian Cover-board Experiment -- Monthly Check

Red Eft Life Stage of the Red-spotted Newt
photo by James Fischer

We revisited the cover-board experiment grid and observed a few interesting patterns.  Faye Curran, a new student intern, helped us today with this project, please visit the blog in a couple days to read her introduction.  Recently, we have recorded almost 14 inches of rain from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.  Although most of the surface run-off has slowed, there is still quite a bit of water in the forest percolating into the soil column from vernal pools or bubbling out of springs.  The amphibian cover-boards encounter rate appears to have been affected by all of this precipitation.  A total of 65 of the 132 cover-board stations detected an amphibian, which is the second highest percentage of cover-board stations detecting amphibians since the project started 2.5 years ago.  We encountered a total of 79 Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), 19 Red Eft (Notophthalmus viridescens), 2 Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata), 1 Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum), and 1 Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica).  The primary question of this project is to examine the differences between softwood and hardwood cover-boards amphibian detection rates using a pair-wise comparison experiment.  The softwood cover-boards detected a total of 57, while the hardwood boards detected 45 individuals.