Amphibian community monitoring at Fort Sumter National Monument, 2012

Smrekar, Briana; Byrne, Michael; Kleinschmidt, Lisa; Schwartz, Nathan

This report summarizes amphibian community vital signs monitoring data collected at Fort Sumter National Monument in 2012. During 2012, automated recording devices (ARDs) and visual encounter surveys (VESs) were used to collect data at four spatially balanced random locations in the two Sullivan’s Island sections of Fort Sumter National Monument. Auditory recordings were collected at the park from 4/4/2012 through 6/20/2012 and visual surveys were conducted on 7/2/2012 and 7/3/2012. We detected three amphibian species during 2012 monitoring activities. We detected 29 vocalizations from three identifiable anuran species using the ARDs and two post-metamorphic amphibians in two species during the VESs. The Southern toad (Anaxyrus terrestris) had the highest frequency of occurrence among amphibians at FOSU in 2012, as well as the highest relative detection frequency of vocalizations during the 77-day ARD recording period. Southern toad and squirrel treefrog (Hyla squirella) were the only amphibian species detected during VESs in 2012. The Southern toad was the most widely distributed amphibian in 2012, and was detected at both of the Sullivan’s Island sections of the park. The squirrel treefrog was detected for the first time at FOSU during this monitoring effort and was added to the park species list. We detected 14 reptiles in three identifiable species during the VESs. One reptile was confirmed for the first time in the park and added to the species list; the Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina). No non-native species were detected.

Amphibian community monitoring at Fort Sumter National Monument, 2012

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