Shenandoah salamander monitoring protocol SOP 3: Occupancy site surveys, version 1.1
Wofford JE, Grant EH, Brand AB. 2026. Shenandoah salamander monitoring protocol SOP 3: Occupancy site surveys, version 1.1. National Park Service
Terrestrial habitats, in the context of surveys in Shenandoah National Park, consist of deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests. Forests are occupied primarily by species in the genus Plethodon, which occur underground or under rocks and logs during the day, and on the surface foraging in the spring and fall on rainy or humid nights (Petranka 1998). Anurans and stream-associated salamanders forage, hibernate, and traverse across terrestrial habitats and may also be found during terrestrial surveys. This SOP provides instructions for sampling occupancy sites associated with the Shenandoah salamander monitoring program in Shenandoah National Park. See descriptions of data fields (below) for sampling.