Wednesday, March 16
1300-1400
NMFWA Herpetology Working Group Meeting
The working group meeting will have four presentations from installations that would like to share their accomplishments in the field of herpetology. There will be time set aside for general discussion and questions as well.
Session Chair: Valerie Arkell, Natural Resource Manager, Kansas Army National Guard, Topeka, KS,
1300 - 1310 Brief introduction to the group’s mission and goals
1310-1320 Wood Turtle Conservation at Pembroke Regional Training Institute, New Hampshire
1320-1330Invasive Species Removal at Homestead Air Reserve Base, FL
1330-1340 Diamondback Terrapin Nest Monitoring at Patuxent River Naval Air Station
1340-1350 Benefits from Cooperation with the State Herp Atlas (PARS) at a Guard Installation in Pennsylvania
1350- 1400 Time set aside for questions and general discussion
Wood Turtle Conservation at Pembroke Regional Training Institute, New Hampshire
Arin Mills
Conservation Specialist
Pembroke Regional Training Institute, New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Army National Guard (NHARNG) conducted Wood turtle (Glyptemysinsculpta) surveys in cooperation with the NH Fish & Game Department to assess population size and distribution at the Pembroke Regional Training Institute. River surveys were conducted in the spring and fall of 2015 and will continue in the 2016 field season. The NHARNG also conducted telemetry on 4 individual turtles to help further understand Wood turtle habitat use on the site. The NHARNG will use the information collected to ensure effective management of the species onsite and allow for protection of the species while supporting the military mission. Although the focus of the study was Wood turtle, the methods and analysis could be applied to other species.
Invasive Species Removal at Homestead Air Reserve Base, FL
Joshua Friers
Wildlife Biologist USDA WS
Homestead Air Reserve Base,FL
Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB) is located in southern Miami Dade County and its sub-tropical climate allows for a wide variety of nonnative reptiles to flourish. To date 21 invasive species can be found on homestead. Management and removal is an important part of our program BASH and natural resources program. Smaller invasive lizards are removed when the opportunity presents itself. From a BASH perspective the larger reptiles are top priority Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilius), Nile Monitors (Varanusniloticus), Black and white tegus (Tupinambismerianae) and Burmese pythons (Python molurusbivittatus) have been regularly collected on or near the runways at HARB. My presentation will discuss the methods our best methods of removal of invasive species, how it has impacted the native fauna and knowledge we have gained from my 7 years of removing invasive reptiles from the HARB.
Diamondback Terrapin Nest Monitoring at Patuxent River Naval Air Station
Kyle Rambo
Conservation Director
Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland
Patuxent River Naval Air Station (PRNAS) is located in southern Maryland, along the western shore of Chesapeake Bay, at its confluence with the Patuxent River. The Patuxent River population of Northern Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) is one of the most studied of its species, with dramatic declines noted here and throughout its entire range. For the past three years, the natural resources staff at Pax River has been carrying out a program of nest monitoring, marking of nesting adult female terrapins, installation of predator exclusion devices over nests, and collection of data on hatching rates and hatchling survival. Two of the more interesting aspects of the project are its execution largely with volunteers and the mission compatibility coordination required after discovering that the most popular terrapin nesting dune was also a designated helicopter landing zone.
Benefits from Cooperation with the State Herp Atlas (PARS) at a Guard Installation in Pennsylvania
David McNaughton1, Rebecca Piccone2, Ian Gardner2, Toren Shirk2
Wildlife Biologist 1PA Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs, 2Temple University
Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center, PA
In just the second year of the Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey (PARS), the statewide atlas citizen science project, Fort Indiantown Gap NGTC (FIG) has broken a decade long drought on new species detection within the installation boundary. While survey efforts have been intensive in the past, refinement of techniques with other individuals assisting in the survey and some better search criteria have coalesced into the addition of three new species to the installation lists since 2014. Beyond the new findings, the installation has managed to better communicate with the PA Fish and Boat Commission, the state regulators on herps. This relationship has facilitated some new studies on turtle telemetry and wood turtle habitat occupation that will become very useful in the current USFWS petition review and its aftermath. The project has also pulled in new volunteers, linked us to one new employee, and promoted FIG within the community.