Spring Brings Vernal Pools and Amphibians

Vernal pool by Assenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia

It is now post-vernal equinox that signals astronomical spring but in New Jersey, it is more the meteorological spring that matters. Spring rains do create vernal pools (also known as intermittent or ephemeral ponds) which are temporary bodies of water filled by snowmelt, rain and rising groundwater for at least two consecutive months. 

Though intermittent pools and ponds may form at other times of the year, these are usually full in the spring. Most vernal pools are natural, but they might be intentionally or accidentally (sometimes via construction) man-made. They will usually dry out by mid-summer, but their importance is as breeding places for amphibians. New Jersey has an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 vernal pools, on both public and private property.

One reason that they are preferred breeding places is that they lack predator fish that would feast on eggs and larvae. Vernal pools are not without predators and they are also important for wading birds, turtles, snakes and mammals, as well as rare plants and invertebrates like fairy shrimp and dragonflies. Turtles found in New Jersey’s vernal pools include wood turtles and spotted turtles.

Which amphibians might you find in a New Jersey vernal pool? Some threatened or endangered amphibians are included in the obligate species (meaning they are entirely reliant on vernal pools) including Eastern tiger, blue-spotted, marbled, Jefferson and spotted salamanders, along with wood frogs and Eastern spadefoot toads.

There are also many New Jersey amphibians who will breed in vernal pools but can also use more permanent bodies of water. This group includes the Southern gray treefrogs, Pine Barrens treefrogs, long-tailed salamanders, carpenter frogs, Fowler’s toads, Northern gray treefrogs, Northern spring peepers, bullfrogs, and four-toed salamanders.

We have written in other posts about the dangerous spring move by amphibians from their upland winter hibernation spots to vernal pools. The journey may be short but in NJ it often means crossing roads that separate upland forests from breeding pools. This migration occurs on rainy nights when the temperature is above 45 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In our state, there are volunteers who each spring work at the busiest crossings to slow traffic. In other places, roads are even shut down entirely. (East Brunswick Township has closed Beekman Road on spotted salamander migration nights and the town’s Environmental Commission invites families to come out and see the crossings and the schools teach amphibian ecology.)

Blue-spotted salamander by GRMule, Public Domain, Link

Amphibian Antifreeze Blood

 

Wood Frogs are adapted to survive cold winters by being freeze-tolerant. As temperatures drop, glucose moves throughout the animal’s body and acts as a cryoprotectant - an "antifreeze" - allowing the frog to survive in the frozen ground. Gray Treefrogs and Spring Peepers can also do this.

It Is Amphibian Week

May 2-8 has been proclaimed National Amphibian Week by the U.S. Department of the Interior.  

Amphibians are tiny powerhouses for the ecosystem and the soundtrack to many of our spring nights, yet they're one of the most at-risk wildlife groups on the planet.  

The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife is celebrating these valuable, vulnerable, cool (blooded) friends with daily social media posts all week, so follow @newjerseyfishandwildlife on Instagram and on Facebook.

Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ) is making progress on their first amphibian tunnel project, at a landmark frog and salamander road-crossing location in Sussex County.  This project tackles one of the leading threats to amphibians here and across the globe: habitat fragmentation. The project is currently in the design development stage and will hopefully break ground around Amphibian Week 2022.

In Spring Comes Vernal Pools

Spotted salamander   Image: Peter Paplanus/Creative Commons

I wrote earlier about amphibians on the move for mating during warm spring nights. They are headed for vernal pools.

These vernal (spring) pools are also known as intermittent or ephemeral ponds. These pools give eggs and tadpoles the best chances for survival. These are not year-round ponds and by summer they will dry up. That means they don't allow fish to survive ther. Fish are voracious eaters of egges and tadpoles, so that's what make vernal pools ideal places for amphibians.

These pools are created by snowmelt, spring rain and rising groundwater. It is estimated that New Jersey has 3,000 to 5,000 vernal pools. NJ had more snow this winter than last, so that should benefit amphibians.

There are several near me in woods that I often walk and so I will go out some warm spring evening after rain and listen for some frog chorus singers. I might see some amphibians crossing a road. This always makes me think "Why don't they just live in the woods and avoid the dangerous spring commute?"

Luckily, my local pools are in places that will not be developed. But many vernal pools get filled in, level, and built on or near as homes and businesses move in. The amphibians won't know that until the next spring when they make that journey and can't find the pool they expected. The mating still occurs and the eggs will still be laid but the location will be less hospitable to the offspring.

Amphibian Spring Crossings

Salamander crossing road - by inkoalseibua from Pixabay

Spring has arrived in New Jersey despite this week being quite chilly, windy. Our hibernating amphibians – the frogs, salamanders, and toads – are waiting for the warmer days and spring rains that signal to them to leave winter homes, come out and start mating.

Part of that spring ritual often includes crossing roadways and that is dangerous. It's not always a long journey. It might be a hundred yards. It might be further but crossing a busy roadway even a short distance might be life-threatening. It doesn't help that they are also not at full strength. Rainy, foggy nights and the darkness also help keep them hidden from predators like owls and raccoons.

On the first warm, rainy nights of spring amphibians start to move. From below ground come spotted salamanders, Jefferson salamanders, wood frogs and spring peepers. Where are they headed? To vernal pools.  

See a list of New Jersey’s amphibian species and
listen to recorded frog and toad calls state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/fieldguide_herps.htm

This movement can happen as early as February if we have a mild winter and some warm, rainy days and nights, but it can also be as late as April if the ground is still partly frozen or covered with snow. 

Volunteers and the staff from Conserve Wildlife Foundation have been acting as “amphibian crossing guards” at locations in Warren and Sussex counties. 

To learn more about the Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s
amphibian crossing program, go to
conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/amphibian_crossing/

Searching for amphibians crossing with kids and rescuing them from harm is a great activity and a chance to be a wildlife superhero. Here are a few guidebooks. Check in your local library too.

   

Providing Wild Crossings for Endangered Species

Turtle using a tunnel under a roadway

CHANJ is Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey, an effort to make New Jersey's landscape and roadways more permeable for terrestrial wildlife. By identifying key areas and actions needed to achieve habitat connectivity across the state, CHANJ offers statewide mapping and a Guidance Document to help prioritize land protection, inform habitat restoration and management, and guide mitigation of road barrier effects on wildlife and their habitats.

Mackenzie Hall, ENSP biologist

CHANJ is featured in a new episode of the PBS show, EcoSense for Living.  In this episode, "Wild Crossings," NJ is one of three major habitat connectivity projects, from North Carolina to New Jersey, that are helping wildlife navigate our increasingly developed world.  

In this program, CHANJ comes in at the 14-minute mark but I recommend watching the entire 26-minute episode. The CHANJ portion is 12 minutes and covers salamander migrations, turtle tunnels, timber rattlesnakes, and various connectivity projects of the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife. You will even meet the Division's bobcat scat-sniffing dog, Fly.

In finding food and finding mates and adapting to climate change, these creatures must overcome all the obstacles humans and nature have put in their way. This project, which once relied solely on volunteers physically moving the smaller amphibians, is using more sustainable methods to help animals find safe passage in our increasingly developed state.

This time of year is especially important for amphibians who are coming out of hibernation and moving to area with water and vernal pools for their short breeding season.

Volunteer transferring a frog across a roadway on a spring night

Spotted salamander entering a tunnel

Despite our well-known population density, we are fortunate that NJ is also a recognized leader in preserving open spaces for recreation, agriculture, and nature. Nearly one-third of the state’s landmass is now in permanent preservation. NJ boasts a higher percentage of publicly-owned forest land than any other state east of the Mississippi (Widmann 2004). Healthy, connected ecosystems are an important part of that.

Bobcat in the northern NJ "Bobcat Corridor"

Bobcat using a dry terrestrial pathway under a road

All images via pbs.org video

Snakes in New Jersey

Common and non-venomous eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
Photo: Wilson44691 - Own work, Public Domain   

New Jersey is home to 71 species of reptiles and amphibians. The Division of Fish and Wildlife's "Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of New Jersey" lists reptiles and amphibians and links to fact sheets excerpted from the Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of NJ. The frogs and toads also have a link to each species' calls which are shortened versions of those found on the vocalization CD. This online field guide is intended to provide instant access to pictures, maps, calls and descriptions for New Jersey’s reptiles and amphibians.

In this post, we are focusing on New Jersey's snakes. People more often than not have a fear of snakes. Much of that fear comes from a lack of ability to distinguish species and a fear that a snake id dangerous/venomous.

On this site, we often get comments about snakes that are almost always misidentifications. The most common misidentifications are about venomous snake sighting. We only have two venomous snakes in the state - the Northern Copperhead (more common to the northern part of the state) and the Eastern Timber Rattlesnake (more common in the south).

Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon, non-venomous and found in NJ

Water moccasin or cottonmouth, not present in NJ,
venomous and sometimes misidentified for a water snake
Photo by Ltshears - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

1. Black Rat Snake    Elaphe o. obsoleta
2. Corn Snake (E)    Elaphe g. guttata
3. "Coastal Plain" Milk Snake    L. t. triangulum X L. t. elapsoides
4. Eastern Garter Snake    Thamnophis s. sirtalis
5. Eastern Hognose Snake    Heterodon platyrhinos
6. Eastern Kingsnake    Lampropeltis g. getula
7. Eastern Milk Snake    Lampropeltis t. triangulum
8. Eastern Ribbon Snake    Thamnophis s. sauritus
9. Eastern Smooth Earth Snake    Virginia v. valeriae
10. Eastern Worm Snake    Carphophis a. amoenus
11. Northern Black Racer    Coluber c. constrictor
12. Northern Brown Snake    Storeria d. dekayi
13. Northern Pine Snake (T)    Pituophis m. melanoleucus
14. Northern Redbelly Snake    Storeria o. occipitomaculata
15. Northern Ringneck Snake    Diadophis punctatus edwardsii
16. Northern Scarlet Snake    Cemophora coccinea copei
17. Northern Water Snake    Nerodia s. sipedon
18. Queen Snake (E)    Regina septemvittata
19. Rough Green Snake    Opheodrys aestivus
20. Smooth Green Snake    Opheodrys vernalis
21. Southern Ringneck Snake    Diadophis p. punctatus
22. Northern Copperhead    Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen
23. Timber Rattlesnake (E)    Crotalus horridus

Wikipedia also has a useful list of snakes in New Jersey with links to individual articles about each species with photos. See wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snakes_of_New_Jersey

Timber rattlesnake Photo by Kris Schantz via state.nj.us/dep/

Northern copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen, one of two venomous snakes found in New Jersey
Photo: Public Domain

A "New" Frog Species to NJ

Male Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog - Photo by Brian R. Curry CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia

The Atlantic Coast leopard frog, Rana kauffeldi, is a "new" species to our state, though it has probably been in New Jersey all along.

The Atlantic Coast leopard frog is one of several species of leopard frogs. Its species name, kauffeldi, honors the herpetologist Carl Frederick Kauffeld who in 1936 proposed that there could be a third species of leopard frog inhabiting the New York Tri-State Area. The author team that described the species in 2014 christened it after Kauffeld.

Classified as a true frog, it has smooth skin and a narrow waist. Its range stretches along the northern part of Eastern Seaboard, from Connecticut to North Carolina.

The species takes its common name from the speckles on its legs and back reminiscent of a leopard pattern.

The Atlantic Coast leopard frog tends to inhabit large wetland areas, such as marshes, wet meadows, or slow-flowing water. Its habitat usually includes clear, shallow water and it lives in or around open, vegetated spaces as well, with such plants as cattails, reeds, or river shrubs.

Species Profile  state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/chanj_atlcst_leopardfrog.pdf

The Atlantic Coast leopard frog is a featured species for Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ) state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/chanj_featspecies.htm

By Feinberg JA, Newman CE, Watkins-Colwell GJ, Schlesinger MD, Zarate B, et al. - Feinberg JA, Newman CE, Watkins-Colwell GJ, Schlesinger MD, Zarate B, et al. (2014) Cryptic Diversity in Metropolis: Confirmation of a New Leopard Frog Species (Anura: Ranidae) from New York City and Surrounding Atlantic Coast Regions. PLoS ONE 9(10): e108213. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108213, CC BY 4.0, Link

Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey

Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ) is a statewide effort to make our landscape and roadways more permeable to wildlife movement.

Whether they’re small like a salamander or big and wide-roaming like a bear, animals need to be able to move through the landscape to find food, shelter, mates, and other resources. Without that ability to move, healthy populations simply will not persist over the long term. Here in New Jersey, wildlife are up against steady urbanization, a dense network of roads, and now a changing climate, all of which put the connectedness of our habitats and wildlife populations in jeopardy.

For example, one project is the Waterloo Road Amphibian Passage System in Byram Twp., Sussex County.

At Waterloo Road in Byram, more than 300 salamanders and frogs per hour have been tallied crossing a quarter-mile stretch on peak migration nights. Their goal is to reach the vernal pool on the other side, lay eggs, and journey back to the forest again. The tiny migrants are up against about 50 vehicles per hour or more - grim odds given that just 15 cars per hour can kill more than 50% of all amphibians trying to cross a road. Even with rescue teams patrolling Waterloo on foot, roadkill rates are always over 10% (Hall and Triece 2012-2017). For Spotted Salamanders, annual road mortality of more than 10% can lead to local extirpation (Gibbs and Shriver 2005).

Another project is creating Bobcat Alley in Sussex and Warren Counties, which we have written about here before. For more information: state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/chanj_bobcatalley.pdf

Spring Brings Vernal Pools to Life

Eastern Tiger Salamander   Photo by Caitlin Smith/USFWS.

Springlike weather has arrived and left NJ a few times already in February and March, but as the true spring season arrived this morning, vernal pools will appear and become more actively occupied.

Vernal pools are confined wetland depressions, either natural or man-made, that hold water for at least two consecutive months out of the year and are devoid of breeding fish populations.

Here in New Jersey, rural portions of the Skylands, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain landscapes are home to the majority of our vernal pools. These unique ecosystems provide habitat to many species of amphibians, insects, reptiles, plants, and other wildlife.

An endangered species in NJ, the Eastern Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) are part of the wildlife ritual that happens around those intermittent pools/ponds. This is where many amphibian species go to breed.

Habitat loss and water pollution have led to the decline of tiger salamander populations in the southern portion of New Jersey and by the mid-1970s their known historic breeding sites had been reduced to half - 19 sites.

Consequently, the Eastern Tiger Salamander was listed as an endangered species in 1974 and still remains on the list.

Protecting vernal ponds has led the NJDEP to adopt regulations that affords them protection under the State Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act.

The Eastern Tiger Salamander is only one challenged amphibian species in our state. Their breeding needs or habitat are impacted by water pollution, pesticides, roads, introductions of fish, off-road vehicles and development, especially on private land.

Some populations have been saved from local extinction by the species ability to utilize human-made "pools" such as trenches and construction areas as breeding ponds.

Spotted Salamander

Another vernal pool visitor is the Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). This a big salamander that is about 15–25 cm (5.9–9.8 in) long. They are stout with wide snouts. The spotted salamander's main color is black, but can sometimes be a blueish-black, dark grey, dark green, or even dark brown. Two uneven rows of yellowish-orange spots run from the top of the head (near the eyes) to the tip of the tail.

The Spotted Salamander breeds in large groups in vernal ponds in early spring, when the first
warm rains occur. It prefers deciduous or mixed woods. Outside of breeding season, it may be found under debris in humid conditions.

Adults can be observed moving into vernal pools sometime after the first spring rain as early
as the beginning of March. They will remain in these breeding ponds for up to a month before moving back to their terrestrial dwellings. Their range is the Northern and Western part of the state outside the Pinelands.

Amphibians of New Jersey

Vernal Pools in NJ

Protecting Vernal Ponds

The NJDEP Division of Parks and Forestry has launched a pilot project to install barriers to protect ecologically sensitive intermittent ponds in Wharton State Forest from damage caused by illegal use of off-road vehicles.

Vernal or intermittent ponds and pools are shallow depressions found throughout our state that periodically dry out as the temperature rises, rainfall varies and the ground water table fluctuates.

These areas are ecologically important because they provide breeding habitat for many of the region’s unique amphibian and plant species.

Fish that would otherwise eat the eggs and larvae of many amphibian species cannot populate these ponds due to their fluctuations.

In the Pinelands, for example, species such as the Pine Barrens tree frog are found in few places outside the Pinelands.

The initial phase of the project in the Pinelands targeted four ponds, as part of a broader effort to protect ecologically sensitive areas in the 125,000-acre state forest. Wharton, by far the largest unit of the State Park System, is located in the heart of the globally unique Pinelands National Reserve, and covers parts of Atlantic, Burlington and Camden counties.

Some off-road vehicle enthusiasts run their vehicles through these ponds both during their wet and dry periods. In the process, their tires leave deep tracks in the ponds and destroy plants that fringe them.

Eggs

Organizations involved in the Wharton project were the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Iron in the Pines, Open Trails NJ, NJPineBarrens.com, the South Jersey Botany Group, the New Jersey Trail Riders Association, South Jersey Geocachers, the Gossamer Hunting Club and the Whitesbog Historic Trust.

Mussel Power To Help Clean Polluted Waters

An Eastern elliptio freshwater mussel
Westcott Phillip/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

I am reading about how "Natural Filters," such as mussels, are being used to help clean polluted waters, such as the Delaware River.

Populations that have been decimated or lost are being re-established to help filter out the very pollution generated by agriculture, industry, and development that threatened or endangered the species.

Freshwater mussels are "voracious filter feeders able to cycle gallons of water per hour." By taking in phytoplankton and small particles in streams and freshwater tidal habitats, they eject both clearer water and also a nutrient-rich detritus that actually fertilizes the stream and its sediments.
As with some other species, a healthy population of mussels indicates that water is of good water quality.

Mussels are among the earth’s longest living invertebrates. There are about 900 known species. Freshwater mussels live on every continent but Antarctica. Some species survive 100 years and more. 

Unfortunately, they become endangered because their long lives mean that they face long-term exposures to pollution and are often the first victims of the increases in silt and theexcess nutrients that come with runoff from developed urban and agricultural land.

The Delaware River once had roughly a dozen native freshwater mussel species. While several still survive in isolated populations, the majority of the river’s mussels—and the species Kreeger’s Freshwater Mussel Recovery Program has, since 2007, focused on — is the Eastern elliptio, a dark shelled mussel up to five inches long with a pearly pink interior. While rare in the tidal estuary, elliptio is common in the river above the reach of the tides at Trenton, New Jersey.

William Lellis of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who surveyed the upper Delaware mussels, estimates there might be as many as two million per river mile. With no dam along the Delaware’s main stem, the American eel, which hosts the mussel’s developing larvae on its gills, can repopulate mussels into beds far upriver, where, as a Wild and Scenic River, the runoff is freer of silt and nutrients than in the highly developed and industrialized estuary. There, the nutrient loads can be very high. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s last National Coastal Condition Report found that the Delaware estuary had more high-nitrogen sites than any other Northeast coastal estuary. Surveys have shown that of 70 Pennsylvania streams, for instance, only four contained any freshwater mussels.

Kreeger realizes it’s critical to find out where and how many mussel beds remain in the estuary, determine where they might still survive if given the chance, and then try to restore those streams to the point where their mussel populations could be rebuilt. (To reach more streams and involve the public in the project, Kreeger has enlisted and trained volunteers to survey mussels in their local streams.) In 2011 and 2012, Kreeger reintroduced mussels into three southeastern Pennsylvania streams and, despite severe flooding, most of the animals survived. The idea, of course, is that, once established, mussels will begin to clean both the water and sediments in their new habitat. Can they do it?

SOURCE: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/natural_filters_mussels_deployed_to_clean_up_polluted_waterways/4400/

Frog Awakenings

Photo by William Locascio

Now that spring has truly arrived in New Jersey, all kinds of miraculous rebirths are before us in nature.

My friend Bill's backyard pond in northern NJ has always had a few frog visitors and this week a new one has found the pond.

In early April, that frog would have been still frozen awaiting the spring thaw. If its heart turns on before its brain, the brain would be too cold to get oxygen and the circulatory system would dam up and fail. If the brain turns on before the heart, that brain would be starved for oxygen and die. But somehow, all those organs awaken at the right time and they emerge.

Amazing.

Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Meeting

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is reminding the public that the 2013 annual meeting of the Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) will be held at the New Jersey School of Conservation in Branchville, July 24-26.

The conference provides a forum to discuss NEPARC projects, hear presentations on various herp conservation and research activities, network and enjoy the company of like-minded herp enthusiasts, and elect officers.

Visit the NEPARC webpage at http://www.northeastparc.org/meetings/  for registration information and additional details.

Spring Rains and Night Journeys

Next Wednesday is the first day of spring, and then April showers, and May flowers. But the spring rains of March are what get the frogs, salamanders, and toads to emerge from their winter burrows to get started on their spring season.

Amphibians like the spotted salamanders, wood frogs, spring peepers, and others are ready to move to breeding pools and lay their eggs. We call those "vernal pools" because they fill with rainwater, snowmelt, and rising groundwater in early spring. These pools will be gone as spring changes to summer advances.

The pools drying out is a good thing for the amphibians because these pools cannot support fish, which are normally predators for the amphibian eggs and young.




The best conditions for the amphibians are warm (40ºF or more) nighttime rains. The journey to the pools occur under the safety of darkness and rain which helps protect from other predators like owls and raccoons.

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation has been partnering with NJ’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) since 2002 to protect early-spring breeding amphibians like the wood frog, spotted salamander, Jefferson salamander, and spring peeper during their annual migration.

Report Local Amphibian Crossings This Spring

Spotted salamander halfway across a road   (conservewildlifenj.org)

Every spring, vernal pool breeding amphibians migrate from upland wintering habitats to their spring breeding pools.  Many of these ancestral migratory paths are bisected by roads, creating a barrier that not only disrupts natural migration and fragments habitat but often proves impenetrable, limiting gene flow and disconnecting populations.

Conserve Wildlife NJ's Amphibian Crossing Project works to protect these migration corridors through coordinated volunteer rescue efforts that move amphibians safely across the road during these annual mass migration events.  Currently, our efforts are focused on select sites in northern New Jersey but we want to expand our database to document these migratory paths across the state.

They do ask that you only report known crossings and do not attempt to locate more by driving around on rainy spring nights. Increased vehicular traffic will increase mortality of amphibians during their annual spring migration.

If you would like to report an amphibian crossing near you, please email them the following information:

1. Location of the crossing marked clearly on a map
2. List of species seen crossing or DOR (dead on road)
3. Date(s) of occurrence and any other pertinent information you may have

Slideshow of volunteer crossing photos

ConserveWildlifeNJ.org/blog/2013/01/11/report-local-amphibian-crossings-during-spring-migration/

Amphibian Crossing Project on Video

An American toad gets some crossing protection

This year, the Amphibian Crossing Project again helped migrating amphibians cross busy roads. Among the species identified were Jefferson salamanders, a New Jersey species of special concern.

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and their partner in the Amphibian Crossing Project, the NJ Endangered & Nongame Species Program, placed a particular location at the top of their survey list. The project activity was captured for a special episode of Nature in a New York Minute.

“The surveyors were out until 4am this year to collect the data they needed on the amphibian population and traffic rate at the site,” said Kelly Rypkema who filmed the team’s efforts. “Helping amphibians across was icing on the cake. Instead of feeling tired, I felt a real tangible sense of accomplishment which spurred me on.”



This year, the surveyors were challenged by the sporadic nature of the nighttime rain showers during which the amphibians cross. “Most times, the rain hit very late at night or before dawn – a great situation for frogs and salamanders that have to cross otherwise busy roads,” said MacKenzie Hall, the biologist who coordinates the project, “but tough for us to keep tabs on.”


Nature in a New York Minute is a series about nature in urban environments. From communicating with ants to interpreting the secret life of squirrels, biologist and host Kelly Rypkema showcases in each episode ways to be actively involved with the nature of the concrete jungle. You can follow the series on Facebook.

Kelly holding a spotted salamander

Endangered or Just In Danger Amphibians and Reptiles

A yellow spotted salamander changing lanes

If the unusually warm weather and crocuses blooming in your garden haven't been harbingers of spring, then note that the amphibian migration has begun across a good part of New Jersey.

With the rain yesterday being just about the right temperature, some eager salamanders and frogs are moving to their breeding pools.

Unfortunately, our "Garden State" is also a highway state and crossing is quite dangerous for those creatures. There are some people out there helping out, but keep a watchful eye when driving on rainy nights if you can.

An article in The New York Times, "Bucket Brigade Gives a Lift So Salamanders Can Live to Mate", describes one group of "salamander people" in Mississippi  are out on these rainy, early spring nights scooping up salamanders to help them cross the road. These "herpers" who search for and aid the amphibians or reptiles do their part to try to protect endangered, threatened and just plain in danger creatures.

Some salamanders can live up to 30 years, so they have been down this road (well, really, across this road) before. But they procreate only once a year.

I have written earlier here about similar projects in New Jersey. Saving other, more lovable species might be easier to get attention, volunteers and funding.

The NJDEP, Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP), the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, and the NJ Audubon Society have been partners on the Amphibian Crossing Survey Project. Since 2002, they have been working to protect early-spring breeding amphibians like the wood frog, spotted salamander, jefferson salamander, and spring peeper during their annual migrations, which often lead them across perilous roadways. Volunteers help monitor sites in northern NJ (resources are limited, so that has been the focus area) particularly Warren, Passaic and Morris County. But they also help to identify additional crossings throughout the state.

A single vehicle can crush dozens of the slow-moving animals as they try to cross the road during migration. For example, some major amphibian road-crossings occur in West Milford in Passaic county. On rainy evenings from late February through March, teams of volunteers will be serving as “Crossing Guards” - slowing traffic, moving amphibians across the road, and collecting data about the migration.

According to the ENSP, amphibians are regarded by many scientists as indicators of a region's health and as the first indicators to harmful environmental changes such as pollutants and higher aquatic temperatures. Basically, if we see problems in the amphibian community, it’s just a matter of time before larger organisms (such as birds, mammals, and humans) will be affected as well.

Amphibian populations are declining worldwide as a result of a number of factors, including water pollution, increased pesticide use, and habitat loss, which is the most significant factor for all of New Jersey's species of conservation concern.

Amphibians depend on both terrestrial and aquatic habitats throughout their life cycles. The loss of forests and wetland habitats, including clearing forests, filling in vernal pools, and development that leads to changes in the water table that dry out critical wetlands, only add to these critters’ plight.

Finally, fragmentation of habitat can also play a critical role in the demise of an amphibian population as they attempt to travel from one area to another. Amphibians become easy prey targets in open habitats (lawns, driveways, roads) and at barriers such as curbs and fences that are often impossible to cross.

A spotted salamander being helped across a road.

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has assembled a resource package to help teachers educate students about New Jersey's reptiles and amphibians. The package includes the Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of NJ and Calls of NJ Frogs and Toads CD, and a teacher's guide full of activities and lesson plans for grades 5-9. The activities are correlated to the state's Core Curriculum Content Standards.

Resource Package Flyer and Order Form (pdf)

Spring Amphibian Migrations

Why did the wood frog cross the road?

NJ Audubon, partners with the NJ Fish and Wildlife Endangered and Non-game Species Program (ENSP)
and Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, to study migratory movements of amphibian populations in the state

There are widespread declines in amphibian populations globally. Studying local populations can help us more effectively protect their habitats.

Amphibians often play important and keystone roles in the natural world as indicators of functioning healthy ecosystems and as part of the predator - prey relationship. Like birds, they often signify a "canary in the coal mine" because widespread declines may indicate far reaching problems in the ecosystem. Herpetologists around the world have initiated research and conservation efforts to identify problems associated with these declines and come up with solutions to counteract them. The incredibly high extinction rate of some species can be attributed to:

* Human disturbance
* Habitat destruction
* Encroachment
* Pollution
* Introduced predators

Why did that frog, toad, or salamander cross the road?  Amphibian populations require habitat with abundant food supplies, breeding areas, and hibernation sites - and they need a safe travel path between these sites.

The always increasing development here in NJ and the entire northeast continues continues to separate hibernation sites from breeding pools with road crossings that amphibians must travel.

There are some amphibians (vernal pond obligates VPOs) that can only reproduce successfully in vernal ponds. Why vernal (spring) pools?  These pools only hold water for several months in the spring, so they are not places for amphibians to "live" but their short existence also ensures that fish can not live there and so will not eat the amphibian's eggs or young.

Most of these species are moving from safer upland forests on the first warm rainy nights to these vernal ponds. There, it is amphibian dating time. They search for mates, breed and lay their eggs for the next generation.



Spring Amphibian Migration 2010 video shows volunteer training and two crossings.

These amphibians might be living in your backyard or a small woodlot near you. You probably wouldn't even notice any "road kill" as nocturnal scavengers do a good job of cleaning up the evidence by morning.

Volunteers learn how to identify amphibian crossing sites (generally historic migratory routes from past years) and conduct night surveys on suitable weather nights to look for frogs and salamanders crossing roads.

They collect amphibian mortality data for the NJ Endangered Species Program. They also act as "crossing guards" to help amphibians negotiate dangerous road crossings during the most stressful time of their life cycle.

Of course, all volunteers also act as ambassadors for the project by educating other people about what they do.

Fowler's toad

To become a volunteer, visit the ENSP website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/wcchome.htm

For more information on this effort, see http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionEducation/Amphibians.aspx

FURTHER READING
On NJ Vernal Pools
Aquatic Turtles: Sliders, Cooters, Painted, and Map Turtles
NJ Wildlife: An Introduction to Familiar Species of Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fish and Butterflies




Obligate Vernal Pool Breeding Amphibians:
Eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma t. tigrinum) Endangered
Marbled salamander (A. opacum) Special Concern
Spotted salamander (A. maculatum)
Jefferson salamander (A. jeffersonianum) Special Concern
Blue-spotted salamander (A. laterale) Endangered
Wood frog (Rana sylvatica)
Eastern spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii)

Facultative Vernal Pool Breeding Amphibians:
Green frog (Rana clamitans melanota)
Bullfrog (R. catesbiana)
Pickerel frog (R. palustris)
Southern leopard frog (R. utricularia)
Carpenter frog (R.virgatipes) Special Concern
Northern cricket frog (Acris crepitans)
Northern spring peeper (Psuedacris crucifer)
New Jersey chorus frog (P. triseriata kalmii)
Upland chorus frog (P. triseriata ferarium)
Northern gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor)
Southern gray treefrog (H. chrysocelis) Endangered
Pine Barrens treefrog (H. andersonii) Threatened
Four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)
Long-tailed salamander (Eurycea l. longicauda) Threatened
American toad (Bufo americanus)
Fowler's Toad (B. fowlerii) Special Concern

In addition to amphibians, there are several reptiles that inhabit vernal pools on a seasonal basis, primarily to eat the eggs and larvae of amphibians:
Wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) Threatened
Spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) Special Concern
Mud turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum)
Eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta picta)
Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina serpentina)

Teaching NJ's Herptile Wildlife Species

Southern leopard frog
seen in Double Trouble State Park,
Lacey & Berkeley Townships, NJ.
Originally uploaded by Brett NJ

The Division of Fish and Wildlife has a educational materials focusing on the state's amphibian and reptile (herptile) wildlife species.

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has assembled a resource package to help teachers educate students about New Jersey's reptiles and amphibians.

The package includes the Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of NJ and Calls of NJ Frogs and Toads CD, the Field Guide to Salamanders, Frogs and Toads of New Jersey's Vernal Pools and a teacher's guide full of activities and lesson plans for grades 5-9.

The activities are correlated to the state's Core Curriculum Content Standards.

Resource Package Flyer and Order Form (pdf, 50kb)

Below are links to pages concerning New Jersey's herp populations.

Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of NJ and related CD
Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of NJ and Related CD Order Form
Herp Atlas Project