On April 12, 2018 , we traveled to Selu for the final time to monitor our previously deployed coverboards. . Recent rainfall followed by an increase in temperatures resulted in ideal conditions for finding salamanders. As always teams were deployed at each study site and monitoring time was calculated for natural cover objects. Two species of salamanders were found during this survey, Northern Slimy Salamanders and Eastern Red-backed Salamanders, which were our target species. In total, we captured 46 salamanders, the most of any of the monitoring days. Again, this was probably due to the recent rainfall creating moist environments under the cover objects.
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On March 22, 2017, we returned to our research site for the second time to monitor our previously deployed coverboards. A couple days prior to our monitoring event, we have had cooler temperatures and snow accumulation. Students carefully captured the individuals and placed them in a Ziploc bag in order to not irritate their highly permeable skin during data collection. Salamander and microhabitat data was taken, each individual was measured (snout to vent length and total body length) and weighed (grams). After data collection, the coverboards were placed back tight to the ground and the salamanders were released beside the board they were found under. After all of the cover boards at a site were checked, we focused our attention on natural cover objects (rocks, logs, leaf litter, etc.) and repeated the previously stated methods. Two species of salamanders were found during this survey, Northern Slimy Salamanders and Eastern Red-backed Salamanders, which are our target species.
On February 15, 2017, we returned to our research site to monitor our previously deployed coverboards. The temperature on this day was 68 degrees Fahrenheit. As a class we went to each of our four monitoring sites and checked every coverboard in hopes of finding terrestrial salamanders. Before turning over each coverboard, we made certain that one or two individuals were ready to capture and photograph any critter that was underneath. If salamanders were found, we carefully captured the individuals and placed them in a Ziploc bag in order to not irritate their highly permeable skin during data collection. Salamander and microhabitat data was taken, each individual was measured (snout to vent length and total body length) and weighed (grams). After data collection, the coverboards were placed back tight to the ground and the salamanaders were released beside the board they were found under. After all of the cover boards at a site were checked, we focused our attention on natural cover objects (rocks, logs, leaf litter, etc.) and repeated the previously stated methods. Two species of salamanders were found during this survey, Northern Slimy Salamanders and Eastern Red-backed Salamanders, which are our target species. (Post by Tia Thompson and Zach Underwood)
On January 25th 2018, our Radford University Field Biology/Phenology (Bio 481) class set up our salamander monitoring sites at Selu Conservancy in Radford, Virginia. This trip involved placing 48 artificial cover objects at four previously chosen locations seeking to attract local terrestrial salamander species. In hopes of successful observations, when choosing our four sites we decided to set up in locations where salamanders had been observed previously during a monitoring study conducted by a past Radford University research team. These sites included three sinkhole locations given the names Quad North, Quad South, and Elbow and one vernal pool location called Frog Pond. Each cover board was given a number (1-48) with 10 boards being placed at each sinkhole site and 18 boards being placed at the frog pong site (quad north 1-10, elbow 11-20, quad south 21-30, frog pond 31-48). Details about placement of the cover boards at each site can be found here. Additionally, six soil samples were taken from each site and taken back to the lab to measure soil moisture levels at each site. These cover boards will be revisited by the class every 3 weeks to collect data on the salamanders found beneath them. (Post by T. Thompson)
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