Herptofauna Inventory at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve
Ewen K and Gwilliam E. Herptofauna Inventory at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve. 2023-2024. National Park Service
St. Croix is home to a variety of threatened and endangered (T&E) species that are at risk for predation by the invasive red-tailed boa (Boa constrictor). Genetic analysis determined the original red-tailed boa population on St. Croix sourced from a single female released by a pet owner and its range expands every year. This inventory aims to search for red-tailed boas in two focal areas that Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve (SARI) staff are actively restoring. The park will use information from this inventory to develop a boa removal program and protect sensitive native species. Snakes are cryptic species, often occurring in low density, and utilize complex habitat patterns. To increase the likelihood of detecting red-tailed boa, this inventory used both eDNA and detector dog methods. In June 2023, The Maryland/Delaware/D.C. Wildlife Services detector dog handling team partnered with the USDA-APHIS National Detector Dog Training Center to train and develop detector dogs to assist in determining the presence/absence of red-tailed boa for this project. In 2024 in collaboration with the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, water samples were collected from focal areas within SARI and analyzed for the presence boa DNA.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Ewen, Kristen; Gwilliam, Evan
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- SARI , SFCN
- Keywords
- boa constrictor, detector dog, eDNA, IMD, inventory, inventory and monitoring division, National Park Service, NPS, NPS Inventory and Monitoring Division, NPS Species Inventory Program, red-tailed boa, species inventory
Program
Products
- Red-tailed boa (Boa constrictor) surveys at Salt River Bay National Park, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands: 2023 report of activities
- Detector Dog Herpetofauna Inventory at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve 2023 - Open Format Dataset
- Detector Dog Herptofauna Inventory at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve - Dataset As Delivered - NPS Inventory Program
- Environmental DNA Monitoring of Invasive Central American Boas in St. Croix at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (SARI)
- Tracking Invasive Central American Boas: Testing New Tools at Salt River Bay