Midwest PARC Post. Remember to visit us on FACE- BOOK! We re on the web! Register now at

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1 Midwest PARC Post M I D W E S T PA R T N E R S I N A M P H I B I A N A N D R E P T I L E C O N S E R VAT I O N W W W. M W PA R C. O R G Volume 3, Issue 1 July Midwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Annual Meeting September 7-9, 2012 The 2012 Midwest PARC meeting will be held at Camp Frontier Pioneer Scout Reservation in Pioneer, Ohio. Camp Frontier Pioneer Scout Reservation is located 100 miles southwest of Ann Arbor, Michigan and 65 miles northeast of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in northwest Ohio. The camp and adjacent Lake La Su An Wildlife Area contain a diversity of wetland, grassland, and forest habitats. The theme for the annual meeting is Connectivity Between Habitats Across Landscapes. Featured topics will include landscape connectivity, population connectivity using genetic data, and wetland density and connectivity, among others. Registrants will have the opportunity to go on a pre-meeting field trip to Lake La Su An Wildlife Area. This 2,430 acre parcel boats wooded wetlands, and the St. Joseph River runs through the middle of the area. Registration for the annual meeting is $125 ($55 for students) and includes all conference materials and meals for Friday evening through Sunday noon. Low cost lodging or camping ($5 $75 for two nights) is available on site. Registration is available at Check out the Meeting Agenda on page 2! Inside this issue: 2012 MEETING INFORMATION 2012 MEETING AGENDA ANNOUNCEMENTS & MEETINGS YEAR OF THE LIZARD PEOPLE PROFILE KISTIN STANFORD FIELD HERPETOLOGY ETIQUETTE SPECIES SPOTLIGHT COPPER-BELLIED WATERSNAKE Register now at Remember to visit us on FACE- BOOK! We re on the web!

2 Midwest PARC Post Volume 3, Issue Midwest PARC Meeting Agenda Friday, 7 September: 12:30 pm Check-in (field trip participants) 1:30 pm Departure to Lake La Su An Wildlife Area 5:00 pm Check-in 6:00 pm Dinner at Camp Frontier 7:30 pm Opening reception Saturday, 8 September: 7:30 am Breakfast at Camp Frontier Morning Session 8:30 am Landscape connectivity and copper-bellied watersnake conservation, Bruce Kingsbury 9:00 am Assessing population connectivity using genetic data: examples from Ambystoma salamanders, Katy Greenwald 9:30 am Population biology of restored collared lizards in the Missouri Ozarks, Amy Conely 10:00 am Break/Silent Auction 10:30 am Wetland density & connectivity: the connection between landscape ecology and conservation of amphibian communities, Bob Brodman 11:00 am Road mitigation planning for amphibians and reptiles at population, metapopulation, and landscape scales, Kari Gunson 11:30 am Lessons learned: plains hog-nosed snake movement in a complex landscape, Erica Hoaglund 12:00 pm Lunch and federal agency roundtable Afternoon Session 1:15 pm Using GIS to identify high quality vernal pools and companion restoration sites in Ohio, Mick Micacchion and Brian Gara 1:45 pm Wildlife habitat evaluation in wetland restoration: if you build it will they come? Gary Casper 2:15 pm Indirect assessments of population connectivity in terrestrial and aquatic herpetofauna, Rod Williams 2:45 pm Break/Poster Session/ Silent Auction Bidding 3:15 pm Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, status and updates for the Midwest, TBA Keynote Address 3:45 pm Reptiles in developing landscapes: why can t we all just get along? Kimberly Andrews 5:00 pm Dinner 6:30 pm State chapter updates: MIPARC, David Mifsud and WIPARC, Gary Casper 7:00 pm State updates Sunday, 9 September: 7:00 am Breakfast at Camp Frontier Morning Session 8:00 am National PARC update 8:30 am Working group updates 9:00 am Breakout session 11:30 am Working group reports 11:50 am Announcement of election results/2012 meeting 12:00 pm Lunch Page 2

3 Midwest PARC Post Volume 3, Issue 1 Announcements & Upcoming Events 1. Available now! Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Midwestern United States book is ~150 pages of practical and proactive guidance for improving the compatibility of land management practices with herptiles Order hard copies ($10/each) online at: 2. The North Dakota Herp Atlas Project needs your help! Sightings can be entered directly into the recently launched ND Herp Atlas webpage at or by ing sightings (with locality info. and photo vouchers) to: reports@ndherpatlas.org. For further information, contact Christopher E. Smith, M.Sc., AWB, Administrator ND Herp Atlas, 3. August 8-14, 2012 The 7th World Congress of Herpetology will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia August 16-19, 2012 The 10th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles, hosted byturtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and the IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG) will be held in Tucson, Arizona. Participants enjoying a new discovery at a Bioblitz in Iowa. 5. September 7 9, 2012 Midwest PARC annual meeting at Pioneer Scout Camp in Pioneer, Ohio. Register online at 6. October 5-7, 2012 The Midwest Herpetological Symposium will be held in Omaha, Nebraska Year of the Lizard Why Lizards, and Why Now? Ohio DNR The growth of human communities and our effects on natural habitats are having its toll on our lizards, as for so many other taxonomic groups. Habitat loss and fragmentation is the main threat to lizards, but other factors are being raised as issues as well: overexploitation, predation, and climate variation. Most of these concerns have solutions. With some focused attention, we can engineer a future for lizards within our human-dominated world. The "2012 Year of the Lizard" campaign is sponsored by Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation to raise awareness for lizard conservation. As 2012 unfolds, we will shine a spotlight on our amazing lizard fauna and highlight the work of researchers, land managers, and the public to develop conservation measures to identify threats and forestall losses at local levels. Here, we provide a brief background on our lizards today, identify urgent needs for the conservation of this fauna, and outline actions that can aid their persistence. With place-based management, local populations can thrive. This is a taxonomic group that can benefit by Citizen Science actions, meaning that YOU can help. Throughout the year, we will be raising awareness of the issues surrounding lizards through press releases, newsletters, photo contests, and related events. We believe that citizens, natural resource managers, scientists, and the pet and food and related industries can work together to address issues and to help ensure long-term survival of lizard species and populations. -from *Pictured above: Five-lined skink, Eumeces fasciatus, courtesy of Ohio DNR Page 3

4 Midwest PARC Post Volume 3, Issue 1 People Profile - Dr. Kristin Stanford, Advisory Board Member Kristin Stanford has been an active participant in MW PARC and a member of the Advisory Board for six years. She is currently Education and Outreach Manager for Ohio State University s F. T. Stone Laboratory but is perhaps better known for her work as Recovery Plan Coordinator for the Lake Erie Watersnake. This snake was listed threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999 due to its restricted geographic distribution and declining population numbers. Kristin spearheaded annual population monitoring efforts and established an active program of public outreach which, combined with key land acquisitions and a shift in watersnake diet to the abundant (and invasive) round goby, resulted in delisting in In the process, Kristin completed her PhD dissertation by conducting a comprehensive analysis of watersnake demography that will stand as a benchmark for future researchers. With help from her adviser, Rich King, and numerous volunteers, Kristin assembled one of the largest capture-mark-recapture data sets for any snake (or vertebrate) and used sophisticated analytical methods to generate estimates of key demographic parameters (annual neonate, juvenile, and adult survival; reproductive frequency; fecundity) and their variances (including spatial and temporal process variance). Her analyses were instrumental in demonstrating recovery, and subsequent delisting, of a federally threatened species. In addition to the five chapters of her dissertation, each intended as a manuscript for publication, Kristin is lead or coauthor on seven other peer-review publications based on her Lake Erie watersnake work and two publications based on her master s research on Plains gartersnakes. What is perhaps more impressive is that Kristin completed her dissertation while leading an active program of public outreach activities aimed at educating and shaping public attitudes to a decidedly noncharismatic species. Kristin spends a large part of each year (March November) completing a full calendar of public presentations, workshops, guest appearances at conferences, newspaper contributions, and other media appearances. Notable among these was her appearance in 2006 on The Discovery Channel s Dirty Jobs which made Kristin and the Lake Erie watersnake familiar to more than 10,000,000 viewers. Through the F.T. Stone Laboratory, Kristin teamteaches (with MW PARC Advisory Board Member Katy Greenwald) an intensive one-week collegelevel field herpetology course each summer and has mentored 20 undergraduate researchers. Her appointment with F.T. Stone Laboratory as the Education and Outreach coordinator allows her to continue both the outreach and population monitoring programs that she developed as a graduate student. Her combination of skills resulted in her being named a 2009 Endangered Species Recovery Champion by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She has also become one of the go-to people for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife on matters relating to amphibian and reptile conservation in the state. In 2012, this agency recognized Kristin with their Wildlife Diversity Conservation Award. Page 4

5 Field Herpetology Etiquette Searching for reptiles and amphibians in their natural habitat can be an educational and rewarding pastime. However, over-collecting for the pet trade, habitat destruction, and emerging diseases are all very real threats to our herpetological fauna. Before you venture out, please consider the following tips. It is our responsibility to protect both the animals and their habitat. Know the Laws * Most states have laws and regulations regarding the possession of reptiles and amphibians. It is your responsibility to know and understand relevant laws and regulations for the location you wish to search. Be sure you have a collecting permit if needed. State laws and regulations are available on the websites of most state wildlife agencies. * Know which species are listed as threatened or endangered. Do not pursue these species. Threatened and endangered species are listed for a reason disturbing them or their habitat may retard their recovery. * Realize that laws may be different for private vs. state and federal lands (e.g. refuges). * Respect all no trespassing and private land signs. Protect the Animals * Return all animals as closely as possible to their collection site. * To avoid crushing animals, replace cover objects (logs, rocks, etc.) before releasing the animal. * When handling amphibians, especially if sharing them with a group, protect them from drying by holding them in plastic bags or other containers. * Before handling amphibians, be sure to remove any lotions, sanitizers, or sunscreens from your hands. These can be absorbed through amphibian skin. * Do not disclose sensitive location information. Be particularly careful about posting your exploits on the internet! You may be responsible and law-abiding but others who read an internet post may not be. * Disinfect, Disinfect, Disinfect! To prevent the spread of disease between sites, make sure that you thoroughly clean anything that comes in contact with animals or soils such as nets, boots, containers, etc. Do not reuse plastic bags. Disinfect foot wear and collection equipment by soaking in a bleach solution (3%) for 1 minute. Disinfect instruments in 70% Ethanol solution for 1 minute. Disinfect cloth & clothes by washing in hot water for 30 minutes. Page 5

6 Midwest PARC Post Volume 3, Issue 1 Field Herpetology Etiquette (continued) Protect the Habitat Return cover objects to their original position. Do not tear apart logs or strip bark from trees. Tread lightly in sensitive habitats - stay on boardwalks or trails where possible. Be sure to wash mud and vegetation off boots, boats, and other gear to prevent the spread of invasive species. Do not disturb research sites. This includes traps or cover tins you may come across. Stay out of areas you know are being used for research. Protect Yourself and Others Be able to identify venomous species. Do not handle venomous species unless you have the appropriate training. Wash your hands after handling amphibians their skin toxins can cause irritation to sensitive skin such as eyes and noses. Lift cover objects towards you so that if there is a venomous snake, there is a barrier between it and your legs. Do not move large cover objects that may roll or crush your own feet or someone else s. If road herping, be sure you have reflective clothing and headlamps or flashlights. Be sure to stop at safe pull-offs or on roads where your vehicle can be easily seen by other motorists. Be a good liaison between the herpetology community and the public Be open with landowners and others you encounter during your foray. People are usually excited to hear about your search and may not know what species are in their area. When visiting public or managed lands, take the time to stop and talk to park personnel. They may be able to point you in the right direction and your finds may be of interest to them as well. When talking with others or showing specimens, be sure to model good ethics and etiquette. Treat both the animals and public with respect. As a final tip, remember this litmus test: If law enforcement was to suddenly appear, would I change my behavior? If you answer yes, you are doing something wrong. Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) is an inclusive partnership dedicated to the conservation of herpetofauna - -reptiles and amphibians--and their habitats. Our membership comes from all walks of life and includes individuals from state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, museums, pet trade industry, nature centers, zoos, energy industry, universities, herpetological organizations, research laboratories, forest industries, and environmental consultants. Page 6

7 Midwest PARC Post Volume 3, Issue 1 Field Herpetology Etiquette Resources The following book, available from PARC, can help you learn more about field herpetology techniques, including proper handling procedures: Graeter, G. J., K. A. Buhlmann, L. R. Wilkinson, and J. W. Gibbons (Eds.) Inventory and Monitoring: Recommended Techniques for Reptiles and Amphibians. Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Technical Publication IM-1, Birmingham, Alabama Additional resources: Germano, J. M. and Bishop, P. J. (2009), Suitability of Amphibians and Reptiles for Translocation. Conservation Biology, 23: Johnson M, Berger L, Philips L, Speare R (2003) Fungicidal effects of chemical disinfectants, UV light, desiccation and heat on the amphibian chytrid, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Dis Aquat Organ 57: Kast, John and Hanna N (2008) Hygiene and Disease Control: Field and Captivity, chapter 2, in Amphibian Husbandry Resource Guide, America Zoological Association Amphibian Taxon Group. Ross L. Goldingay and David A. Newell Experimental Rock Outcrops Reveal Continuing Habitat Disturbance for an Endangered Australian Snake. Conservation Biology 14: Speare R, Berger L, Skerratt LF, Alford R, Mendez D, Cashins S, Kenyon N, Hauselberger K, Rowley J. Hygiene protocol for handling amphibians in field studies. Online document: frogs/field-hygiene.doc. 8 October For additional herpetological resources, visit Midwest PARC at Adopted by the MWPARC Advisory Board on 10 July Recommended citation: MWPARC Field Herpetology Etiquette. Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) is an inclusive partnership dedicated to the conservation of herpetofauna -- reptiles and amphibians--and their habitats. Our membership comes from all walks of life and includes individuals from state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, museums, pet trade industry, nature centers, zoos, energy industry, universities, herpetological organizations, research laboratories, forest industries, and environmental consultants. Page 7

8 Midwest PARC Post Volume 3, Issue 1 Species Spotlight Copper-bellied Watersnake The Copper-bellied Watersnake, Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta, is pretty handsome for a watersnake - adults are uniformly dark brown to black on their dorsal surface, and yellow-orange to red on the belly. Unfortunately, this fine snake is in trouble. Many populations are in decline across their range, and those around the tri-state area where Indiana, Michigan and Ohio come together (also the location of the 2012 annual meeting of Midwest PARC) are nearly gone and listed as federally threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Copperbellies make for an excellent mascot for the Midwest PARC annual meeting. In addition to good looks and imperiled status, the best of the imperiled populations are all within miles of the meeting location. Furthermore, a principal reason for copperbelly decline is the theme of this meeting: habitat connectivity, or the lack thereof. Copperbellies are associated with shallow open wetlands, but they are also one of the most terrestrial of the watersnakes. They routinely travel overland as they hop from wetland to wetland, and also spend a great deal of time away from wetlands all together. Copperbellies use large areas. Single season activity ranges for individuals in the threatened populations are 15 ha or more. Within this area, copperbellies exploit wetland networks, using 3 to 5 wetlands and moving between them regularly. Because the copperbelly is a highly vagile species that uses multiple wetlands across a large area, a mosaic of wetlands and safe terrestrial uplands within the landscape is needed for population persistence. Consequently the species is particularly vulnerable to wetland loss and to the addition of barriers such as roads and farm fields inserted into the habitat. Efforts are thus underway to enhance wetland density and improve corridor quality using reforestation, while we simultaneously examine how to mitigate roads as barriers. By expanding the usable landscape and removing barriers, we hope to recover the threatened populations of the copperbelly so the species will remain a member of the region s diverse herpetofauna. Bruce Kingsbury Rich King, Senior Co-Chair rbking@niu.edu Bruce Kingsbury, Junior Co-Chair kingsbur@ipfw.edu MW PARC Advisory Board: Kent Bekker (OH) Jeff Briggler (MO) Bob Brodman (IN) Trish Crabill (MO) Bill Flanagan (IL, MI) Katy Greenwald (MI) Erica Hoagland (MN) Rich King (IL) Greg Lipps (OH) Carrie Milne-Zelman (IL) Dave Mifsrud (MI) Allison Sacerdote (IL) Chris Smith (MN) Kristin Stanford (IL) Dave Mifsud (MI PARC) Copper-bellied watersnake. Photo by M. Myers DNR Page 8