Lewis and Clark National Historical Park amphibian inventory 2002 and 2005: Non-sensitive version.

Samora, Barbara; Layes, Michael; Lofgren, Rebecca

This report details amphibian inventories conducted in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI). These inventories were part of a larger effort to document species presence at 5 North Coast and Cascade (NCCN) Parks: Mount Rainier National Park (MORA), Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA), LEWI, Fort Vancouver National Historical Park (FOVA), and San Juan Island National Historical Park (SAJH). Four of these parks (EBLA, LEWI, FOVA, and SAJH) had incomplete amphibian lists based on limited data. Our goal was to meet the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring program goal to assess the status of amphibian species listed as “expected” in the parks and to verify the occurrence of 90% of these species. Prior to this inventory, LEWI had a limited verified list of species in the park. Our primary goal for LEWI was to search for historically documented or expected species: northwestern salamander, long-toed salamander, Cope’s giant salamander, Ensatina, western red-backed salamander, Dunn’s salamander, Van Dyke’s salamander, northern Pacific treefrog, western toad, northern red-legged frog, Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa), American bullfrog, Columbia torrent salamander, rough-skinned newt, and clouded salamander. The report describes the methods used and results, includes a summary of species documented at each survey site, information on species life stage and habitat, and maps showing the spatial distribution of species in the park. The Appendices include detailed information documented in the inventory. Microsoft Excel spreadsheets have been submitted to the NCCN data manager. ArcGIS location data, slide photographs of sites surveyed, and digital (and slide) voucher photos for new species documented have been produced. Twenty-five surveys were conducted in 2002 (Fort Clatsop National Memorial) and 40 surveys in 2005 (Fort Clatsop National Memorial, Sunset Beach, and Cape Disappointment). We detected 10 of the 15 species we expected in LEWI. These included northwestern salamander, Columbia torrent salamander, rough-skinned newt, Cope’s giant salamander, Ensatina, western red-back salamander, Dunn’s salamander, northern Pacific treefrog, northern red-legged frog, and American bullfrog. We also documented the coastal giant salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus), which was not on our list of expected species. The northern red-legged frog was the most dominant aquatic breeding amphibian species documented, detected at 32 out of 65 sites while the western red-backed salamander was the most dominant terrestrial breeding species, detected at 21 sites. We confirmed the presence of 2 species of Pacific giant salamanders, Cope’s giant salamander and coastal giant salamander, at the Cape Disappointment and Fort Clatsop units, respectively. The invasive American bullfrog was found at 1 site in Cape Disappointment and 2 sites in the Fort Clatsop unit. Species absence is extremely difficult to determine and it is possible that some species that were not detected during our surveys but recorded historically or occasionally, may still be present in the park. Additional surveys of targeted habitats and unconfirmed species not confirmed are recommended.

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park amphibian inventory 2002 and 2005: Non-sensitive version.

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