Morristown National Historical Park Amphibian and Reptile Inventory: March - September 2000
Brotherton DK, Behler JL, Morales L, Cook RP. 2005. Morristown National Historical Park Amphibian and Reptile Inventory: March - September 2000. Natural Resource Technical Report: Northeast Region. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2005/013. National Park Service. Woodstock, VT
Under a National Park Service/Wildlife Conservation Society Cooperative Agreement, an inventory of amphibians and reptiles at Morristown National Historical Park in New Jersey was conducted from March through September 2000. Six standardized sampling methods were employed; anuran call counts, egg-mass counts, time-constrained search, coverboards, turtle trapping, and minnow trapping. In addition, animals encountered outside of standardized surveys (temporally or spatially) were recorded as incidental encounters. Of the 31 species believed to have occurred historically at Morristown National Historical Park, 21 (68%) were documented in 2000. Of these, 18 appear to be stable in terms of their population trends and the remaining 13 species have declined. Nine of these “declining” species were amphibians not recorded in 2000. Much of the decline seems to involve species that, due to limitations of habitat, were probably never very common to begin with. Their apparent disappearance from Morristown is likely part of a larger, regional decline, in concert with the increasing isolation of Morristown. Each survey method was useful in sampling different habitats and specific species, and it is recommended that any future inventories targeting the entire herpetofauna include each method, and sample both upland and wetland habitats.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Brotherton, David; Behler, John; Morales, Laura; Cook, Robert
- Date of Issue
- 2005
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- MORR , NETN
- Keywords
- Amphibians, Herpetofauna, MORR, Morristown, NETN, Northeast Temperate Network, Reptiles, Salamanders, Snakes
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Wetland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Amphibians and Reptiles