A proposal to monitor anuran abundances on Cumberland Island Georgia

Shoop, C; Ruckdeschel, Carol

This document is a proposal to initiate and maintain an anuran monitoring program for the establishment of baseline data on the anuran abundance and reproductive success. The authors propose to initiate and maintain an anuran monitoring program to provide indices of normal variability which will allow assessment of changes in relative abundances and distributions of a series of island frogs. While absolute abundances would be a preferable measurement, different behaviors and environmental variability make such assessments unlikely, so that indices are of greater value in tracking amphibian success. The great variation in island weather patterns and thus annual reproductive success, requires long-term measurements for reliable indices, and this proposal includes several sampling techniques to provide the indices. The protocols and techniques addressed herein are designed to be executed by specialists in amphibian biology and are based on our experience of amphibian monitoring elsewhere and from examining the vertebrate fauna of the island. Choices of sampling areas are based on known faunas and likelihood of convenient sampling. While some island sites might provide more data for certain species, the remoteness or difficulty in reaching those sites increase the likelihood that they will not be monitored regularly in the future.