Herpetological Inventory of Buck Island Reef National Monument
Waddle JH, Rice KG, South Florida/Caribbean Network. 2002. Herpetological Inventory of Buck Island Reef National Monument
Buck Island is a 90 ha island that lies approximately 2.5 km north of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (Fig. 1). Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS) was authorized in 1961 to protect the significant coral reef and marine resources around Buck Island. Although BUIS currently comprises 356 ha, the majority (75%) is marine (Fig. 2). Buck Island is a very dry island with no permanent fresh water source. Part of the shoreline consists of wide, sandy beach and the rest is steep, rocky outcrops. The island has one small salt pond in the low southeastern portion of the island dominated by manchineel (Hippomane mancinella; Fig. 3). The rest of the island is hilly with extremely xeric slopes (Fig. 4) and semi-mesic drainages known as guts (Fig. 5). The highest point of Buck Island is 140m above sea level. Only a limited amount of historical data exists on the herpetofauna of Buck Island. Some collections of herpetofauna were made on the island, and all of the historical records for Buck Island are reported in Schwartz and Henderson (1991). All of the species with historical records from Buck Island are still present on the island, but no thorough survey of the herpetofauna was ever reported. It is possible that other species occurred on Buck Island historically, but were lost after the introduction of the black rat and the mongoose. The objective of this study was to completely inventory the amphibians and reptiles of BUIS.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Waddle, J.; Rice, Kenneth; South Florida/Caribbean Network
- Date of Issue
- 2002
- Units
- BUIS , SFCN
- Keywords
- Buck Island, Herp, Herp Inventory, herpetofaunal, Herpetological, Inventory, SFCN, South Florida/Caribbean Network