Empowering Youth in Herpetology Conservation
2024
The purpose of the Empowering Youth in Herpetology Conservation program is to engage with the next generation of Wyoming decision makers and empower them to see themselves as stewards and ambassadors of Wyoming’s native reptiles and amphibians (hereafter, herps) and their habitats. The program will feature a series of workshops with hands-on components that will increase participants’ knowledge of and familiarity with Wyoming’s herps in an effort to confront harmful misperceptions of this taxa that can contribute to poor conservation outcomes. Participants will attend a field trip to imperiled habitat where they will have opportunities to handle non-dangerous wild reptiles and collect data on their habitat use and behaviors. A final design project will introduce participants to new technologies to create a permanent educational display in the Berry Center building that will serve to improve visitors’ knowledge and perceptions of Wyoming’s herps and their habitats.
Laramie Salamander Migration Initiative
Project Started: 2022
There is a population of Western tiger salamander (Ambystoma mavortium) in Laramie, Wyoming. Each spring, this urban population has to cross two busy roads and additional residential streets to migrate from local backyards to their breeding pond in a city park. Many residents are unaware that the salamanders exist, let alone migrate. As a result, road mortalities occur, and would be far greater without occasional volunteers helping move them across the road. Our goal with the Laramie Salamander Migration Initiative is to educate the community about these salamanders, involve the community in data collection to monitor the population, and create a formal volunteer program to help migrating salamanders get safely across the streets. This is a priority because Western tiger salamanders are classified as a species of greatest conservation need in Wyoming. The Wyoming State Wildlife Action Plan recognizes habitat fragmentation/loss and disease as the primary limiting factors for this species in the state. In addition, it recognizes road mortalities as a significant problem facing certain populations. As an urban population, these Laramie salamanders face continuing habitat destruction through urban development, disease threats, and road mortalities. Despite being an urban population that migrates to a city park, next to nothing is known about this population. By establishing a formal volunteer program for migration nights, we will be able to collect data that will help us monitor this population long-term. And, by involving the community in data collection, migration support, and outreach events, we will inspire residents to care for and protect the salamanders and other native species and their habitats.
Wyoming Toad Canine Detection Program
2020-2021
The Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri) is an endangered species that has been considered extinct in the wild since 1989. After dramatic population declines, the last ten known toads were taken into captivity in 1989 to establish breeding populations in zoological facilities across the country for release back into the wild.
It is difficult to monitor the success of the reintroduction program due to the cryptic nature of the toads, which are visible to human observers less than 17% of the time. Further evidence of low survey returns are demonstrated by the fact that 1,046 individually marked adult toads were released in May 2019, but only 21 of them were observed in follow-up surveys. This could lead to the potential for severe under-estimation of the Wyoming toad population.
The Wyoming Toad Recovery Team received funding to establish a detection canine program. Detection dogs have the capability to enhance detection of released toads, as well as the ability to increase findings of wild breeding events such as egg strands. The use of a detection canine could virtually eliminate visual observation bias during human-led monitoring surveys. This will enhance recovery of the Wyoming toads by allowing us to more accurately document the population status of the species and thus monitor its progress towards recovery. Furthermore, this
species is still listed as extinct in the wild. A detection dog will be able to find evidence of wild breeding (egg strands), which will give insight into the success rate of the Wyoming toad project and may lead to changes in listing status.
Texas Horned Lizard Winter Habitat Assessment
2019-2020
The Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) used to be abundant throughout Texas, but their population has been declining since the late 1960s because of habitat loss due to agricultural and urban expansion, the introduction of the non-native red imported fire ant, and over collection for the pet trade. Because a lot of land owners have an interest in returning their land to a native system, there is a lot more available habitat than there has been for the past 30-40 years. Three zoos in Texas are working to reintroduce horned lizards to suitable habitat. The San Antonio
Zoo is focusing on releasing horned lizards onto private properties in south central Texas in an effort to return the lizard to an area where it once thrived but is now extinct.
We know a lot about active season habitat needs of the Texas horned lizard in various ecoregions of Texas, but their hibernation needs are understudied, and the preferences of released captive-bred lizards is just starting to be studied. Horned lizards in south Texas generally hibernate from late October to April. Understanding which habitat types they use for hibernation, and whether these habitats differ
from active-season habitat use, is important for ensuring properties slated for release sites have all of the habitat components that horned lizards need for survival. Although the data collected from this study is not enough to draw statistically significant conclusions, there seems to be commonalities between hibernation sites as compared to surrounding available habitat. The lizards might be selecting overwinter habitat that has significant leaf litter coverage, which has implications for management decisions. Current guidelines recommend winter burning of leaf litter to improve horned lizard habitat, but this recommendation might be detrimental given their selection for leaf litter covered hibernation sites. More research is needed into their overwinter habitat needs.
Conference Presentations and Posters
Laramie Salamander Migration Initiative, Wyoming Chapter of the Wildlife Society Annual Meeting, March 2023.
Cannibalism in Eurycea rathbuni (poster), Texas Herpetological Society Symposium, October 2018.
Horned Lizard Reintroduction Project, Texas Herpetological Society Symposium, October 2017.
Horned Lizard Reintroduction Project, Horned Lizard Conservation Society Conference, July 2017.
Department of Conservation and Research Upcoming Projects, International Herpetological Symposium, July 2017.
Captive Husbandry of Texas Blind Salamanders, EuryceAlliance Meeting, December 2016.
Captive Husbandry of Edwards Aquifer Species, Texas Herpetological Society Symposium, November 2016.
Engaging the Public in Quail Conservation Through Internet Media (poster), Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society Annual Meeting, February 2015.
Students, Genres, and Rhetoric (panel member), International Writing Centers Association, October 2015.