2018 Conference

Poster Presentation

Alexis Pelletier, Taylor Gedeon, Justin Rappold, and Mary Beth Kolozsvary, Ph.D. Siena College, Dept. Environmental Studies and Sciences, Loudonville, NY

Eastern spadefoots (Scaphiopus holbrookii) are secretive, spending most of their adult stage in underground burrows. In the Albany Pine Bush Preserve (APBP) of upstate New York (a globally rare inland pine barrens harboring several unique species associated with sandy soils), eastern spadefoots are present but rarely encountered. Reports of isolated breeding events document spadefoot presence, but an understanding of their distribution and response to ongoing restoration activities is lacking. In July 2015, we launched a long-term initiative with APBP to determine the distribution, abundance, and habitat use of spadefoots designed to integrate undergraduate researchers. Students enrolled in independent study and a Conservation Biology upper-division course provided a pool of research assistants willing to put in long hours without the pressure of needing large data sets for thesis level research. We began fieldwork in 2015 by surveying areas with high likelihood of spadefoot presence using night searches for above-ground foraging individuals during optimal weather conditions. We were able to capture and measure one spadefoot during a downpour. In 2016, a drought year, we again attempted to use night searches to capture and radio-mark spadefoots, but were unsuccessful. In Fall 2016, we installed pitfall-drift fence arrays to increase the likelihood of capturing spadefoots the next season. Although precipitation was higher in 2017, groundwater did not fill temporary breeding pools and we failed to capture any spadefoots. We are currently exploring alternative methods, such as visual encounter surveys and night transects to maximize capture rates. Although spadefoots are secretive and challenging to study, the initial capture success in 2015 has fueled continued interest in the project. By gaining a better understanding of how to detect spadefoots, a more formalized survey methodology can be developed both to assist our APBP partners and to introduce our students to long-term ecological monitoring.