Month: February 2021

Herpetofaunal Surveys in Northeastern Illinois Sand Prairies

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Recently we conducted a survey to quantify the diversity and structure of amphibians and reptiles in sand prairie preserves managed by the Forest Preserve District of Will County. In 2014, we used a multifaceted sampling approach following an occupancy and detection probability framework. Also, all surveying points, transects, and cover objects were left in situ so the study could be replicated after sites are restored. During our surveys we recorded 9 amphibian and 17 reptile species. Thos of most interest were the Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingi), Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata), and the Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus). The work was a collaborative effort with Dr. Christopher A. Phillips, Jennifer M. Mui, Jason, P. Ross, Sarah J. Baker, and David Mauger.
INHS Reports

Ecological Dynamics of Pond-Breeding Ambystoma

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I began research under the direction of Dr. Christopher A. Phillips on the dynamics of a pond-breeding Ambystoma assemblage in west central Illinois. The assemblage consisted of four species, Spotted Salamander (A. maculatum), Marbled Salamander (A. opacum), Silvery Salamander (A. platineum), and Small-Mouthed Salamander (A. texanum). It was a collaborative effort that included Jennifer Mui’s thesis and focused on the timing of migration, population sizes, the directionality of migration, and factors affecting emigration of metamorphs. Other collaborators that worked on the project were Dr. Johnathan A. Crawford, Dr. Jarret R. Johnson, and Andrew R. Kuhns.

Demographics of the Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)

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In Illinois, the Ornate Box Turtle has suffered from drastic habitat loss as prairies were converted to row crop agriculture. The resultant conversion has left many populations situated in a highly fragmented landscape. Such high fragmentation and insularization have left populations isolated and susceptible to small population dynamics. There are only a few places in Illinois where Ornate Box Turtle populations are considered robust. The demography project aims to gather data from two of these larger populations which will then be used to inform conservation efforts. The collaborative project was initiated at Nachusa Grasslands by Dr. Matthew Allender in 2016 and has now broadened to include demographics as well as wellness. Dr. Christopher A. Phillips, Dr. Sarah Baker, and Andrew Kuhns are also assisting with the fieldwork and design of the project. All the work could not have been completed with our Mr. Rucker and his amazing Boykin Spaniel team. With funds provided from a State Wildlife Initiative Grant, Devin Edmonds will be exploring the demography for his Master’s Thesis.

Assessment of SGCN Herpetofauna in Bottomland Forests and Swamps

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Our collaborative project led by Dr. John A. Crawford at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. With Dr. Christopher A. Phillips, Andrew Kuhns, and myself as co-investigators, the project seeks to provide current information on the status of amphibian and reptile Species in Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) using the unique bottomland and swamp habitats of southern Illinois. Our three-year project will provide land management agencies a ranking of the quality of these habitats for herpetofauna. Also, the results of the project will provide updated distributional and abundance information for herpetofauna using these unique habitats.

Critical Conservation Needs of Illinois’ Imperiled Herpetofauna

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A recent project I am leading will assess the conservation needs and data gaps present for Illinois’ imperiled herpetofauna. The work is in collaboration with Dr. Christopher A. Phillips, Dr. Johnathan A. Crawford, Andrew Kuhns, and Jennifer Mui and will help guide future conservation efforts under the revised Illinois Wildlife Action Plan. The goal is to assess each SGCN amphibian reptile species in the state and determine what measures require enacting for their recovery or stabilization. The work will be done through workshops with taxa experts within Illinois. Once measures are outlined and data gaps assessed, the most critical species will receive conservation planning.

Demography and Viability of the Spotted Turtle (Clemmys gutatta)

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Research on the Spotted Turtle in Illinois began in 1988 by David Mauger and Dr. Edward O. Moll. The effort into understanding their population dynamics and spatial ecology has continued, and the project has become a multi-collaborator project. In the early phases, the research was led by collaborator Dr. Thomas P. Wilson, who continues to collaborate. Now with a long-term data set, we can answer demographic questions about the demography, life history, and viability of this species at its southern range limit. The culmination of the research represents a major portion of Christina Feng’s thesis work and will better guide conservation and management decisions for this rare Illinois turtle.

Ecology of the River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna)

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In 1994, I began my research on the ecology of a relatively understudied species under the direction of Dr. Edward O. Moll at Eastern Illinois University. Although the work began as a simple single-species mark/recapture study, we greatly expanded it to examine the turtle assemblage. The site studied has impressive species richness for Illinois, nine species. I continued the work after completing my Master’s Degree and expanded it to include some limited radio-telemetry. Research continued intermittently until 2010 when I had to end the project. However, I may re-initiate the work on the species in the near future given the thousands of turtles marked at the site.

Conservation of the Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)

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The Blanding’s Turtle work I conduct can best be described as a larger project working toward the recovery of the species in Illinois. Overall, the work is multi-agency and has numerous collaborators. With that, I am a member of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Blanding’s Turtle Recovery Team. Thus, I do also have a role in larger conservation issues the species faces. The fieldwork I have conducted in the past was mainly in the Chicago Region working on various field projects with multiple county-level forest preserve districts.

Reintroduction of the Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys teminckii)

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The work on the Alligator Snapping Turtle began with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources wanting to re-establish the species in Illinois. After serving on a recovery team to create a work plan we performed two pilot releases, in a lentic and lotic system. After the successful survival of head-started turtles in a lotic system, the recovery team was reconvened and expanded. Using a PVA guided release strategy, in 2014 releases of radio-equipped turtles began in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in a cooperative effort funded by a multi-state competitive State Wildlife Initiative Grant. Ethan Kessler is leading the project for his doctoral dissertation. The major collaborators on this project are Dr. John L Carr and Dr. Day B. Ligon. The project is a large-scale collaborative effort.

Conservation of the Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus)

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Since 1999 research on the Eastern Massasauga in Illinois is ongoing, we demographically monitor a focal population annually. The broad scope of the project is to conserve and recover the species. The research has or is being addressed is interdisciplinary and covers spatial ecology, energetics, genetics, thermal ecology, demographics, and viability. Thus, the research has covered many aspects of the species’ ecology from spatial to physiological. It has been a fully collaborative efforts with researchers at the INHS, to specialists at other institutions. The major collaborators on this project are Dr. Christopher Phillips, Dr. Sarah Baker, and Dr. Matthew Allender.