Acoustic amphibian monitoring, 2019 data summary: Indiana Dunes National Park
Casper GS, Nadeau SM, Parr TB. 2022. Acoustic amphibian monitoring, 2019 data summary: Indiana Dunes National Park. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/GLKN/NRDS—2022/1384. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2295493
Amphibians are a Vital Sign indicator for monitoring long-term ecosystem health in seven national park units that comprise the Great Lakes Network. We present here the results for 2019 amphibian monitoring at Indiana Dunes National Park (INDU). Appendices contain tabular summaries for six years of cumulative results. The National Park Service Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network established 10 permanent acoustic amphibian monitoring sites at INDU in 2013. Acoustic samples are collected by placing automated recorders with omnidirectional stereo microphones at each of the 10 sample sites. Temperature loggers co-located with the recorders also collect air temperature during the sampling period. The monitoring program detected eight of the nine species of frog and toad known to still occur at INDU in 2019, with Eastern American Toad, Gray Treefrog, Green Frog and Spring Peeper occurring at every site sampled. Boreal Chorus Frog was found at all but one site. American Bullfrog, Northern Leopard Frog, and Wood Frog were found at five, two and two sites, respectively. We expanded analyses and reporting in 2018 to address calling phenology and to provide a second metric for tracking changes in abundance (as opposed to occupancy) across years. Occupancy analyses track whether or not a site was occupied by a species. Abundance is tracked by assessing how the maximum call intensity changes on sites across years, and by how many automated detections are reported from sites across years. Using two independent survey methods, manual and automated, with large sample sizes continues to return reliable results, providing a confident record of site occupancy for most species. There were no significant data collection issues in 2019 except failure of the temperature logger and early cessation of data collection at INDU03, neither of which compromised sampling rigor or analysis. We now recommend a start date of 10–15 March rather than 1 April based on the temperature logs showing that the threshold of ≥40°F was exceeded by 1 April in 2019.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Casper, Gary; Nadeau, Stefanie; Parr, Thomas
- Date of Issue
- 2022-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2295493
- Units
- GLKN , INDU , NRSS
- Keywords
- Amphibian monitor, Indiana, Indiana Dunes