ࡱ> ')&7 W bjbjUU "7|7|Wl  [$ 1 @@@@R@@@ `.+0[;@;@Amphibian Monitoring on Mount Mansfield State Forest April - October 1996 James S. Andrews, Conservation Biology Laboratory Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont 05753 Abstract Populations of amphibian species are monitored annually on Mount Mansfield using drift-fences. The goals of the monitoring are to (1) establish a baseline data set of abundance indices for the amphibian species caught in the fences, (2) monitor year-to-year changes in their abundance, (3) monitor changes in the number or type of obvious external deformities. Amphibians are targeted for this kind of study because the:ir unique life-history characteristics, involving multiple habitat useage, as well as permeable skin, make them especially well suited as an indicator taxa of changes in environmental conditions in forest environments. Although more years of data will be necessary to determine long-term population trends, four years of solid monitoring data can be examined for short-term population trends for the first time. Of the eight species abundant enough to monitor, none have shown steady declines or increases. The species monitored fall into two groups whose populations have oscillated synchronously. Eastern newt, Spring peeper, Green frog, and Pickerel frog populations have all increased or decreased in the same years. Populations of Spotted salamanders ,and Wood frogs (both early spring breeders) are synchronized only with each other. Populations of Redback salamanders have varied in direct opposition to the Eastern newt group. Of the over 1,000 amphibians caught at these drift-fences in the last four years, none have ever had an obvioul:i external deformity .Of all amphibians caught using ail methods at this site since 1991, only one frog showed obvious external deformities. A Wood frog metamorph caught in 1994 was missing one eye and a portion of its rear leg. IKW 5\5JK}V W $a$ W  1h/ =!"#$% i8@8 NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH <A@< Default Paragraph FontW5JK}VY0000000000W W W V\ir YY\BRprY333Vermont Monitoring Cooperative*C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Report\1996001AmpMM.doc@VVrVVW`@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial"qh{&{&  $20n24Amphibian Monitoring on Mount Mansfield State ForestVermont Monitoring CooperativeVermont Monitoring CooperativeOh+'0 $8 `l   5Amphibian Monitoring on Mount Mansfield State ForestVemphVermont Monitoring Cooperativeaermerm Normal.dotiVermont Monitoring Cooperativea1rmMicrosoft Word 9.0C@Ik@@! ՜.+,0D hp  %,VT Department of Forest, Parks & Recreation n 5Amphibian Monitoring on Mount Mansfield State Forest Title  !"#$%(Root Entry FP0"*1TableWordDocument"SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjjObjectPoolP0"P0"  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q