Monday, February 1, 2010

Instructions for Participating



We're a little late in getting this out, but most of the breeding season is still ahead of us. Here's basically what participants need to know, with more to follow. Contact Mark Bailey if you need Google Earth placemarks showing all historic and extant gopher frog sites for Alabama.

Remember to rport on every site visited, regardless of results. Negative data is important.

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Gopher frogs typically breed from January through March (with exceptions) in fishless, ephemeral woodland ponds or pools that are also used by other species including spring peepers, chorus frogs, leopard frogs, newts, and ambystomatid salamanders. Look for relatively open pools in or adjacent to natural forest. A “good” gopher frog pond is relatively open (not shaded by tree canopy) and has abundant emergent vegetation (Andropogon, Xyris, etc.).

Submit all data electronically, as text copied into the “Description” field of a Google Earth placemark (saved as a .kmz file). The following can be copied and pasted into your own customized field data sheet:

Observer(s)___________________________________________________
Date_________________________ Time___________________________
County: _______________________
Air temp ___________ (specify F or C)
Time since last rain: ___ raining, ___<8>48 hours)
Adjacent land use: ___ natural forest ___pine plantation ___agricultural ___ suburban
Other: _____________________________________________________________
Approximate maximum depth of pool (in feet): ________ Fish present? ___Yes ___No
Amphibian egg masses seen? ___Yes ___No
If yes, can you ID to species? ________________________________________________
(gopher frog and leopard frog masses are similar-looking; only ID these if you have experience).

All amphibian species observed/heard (do not collect, but photograph any gopher frog found).

1. ______________________
2. ______________________
3. ______________________
4. ______________________
5. ______________________
6. ______________________
7. ______________________
8. ______________________

If possible, obtain a recording of any frog choruses.
Other observations: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After entering the points and data in Google Earth (you can create a new folder to hold multiple kmz files), email to coordinator Mark Bailey at mbailey@conservationsoutheast.com. (cell: 334-312-4258).

If Google Earth is not an option for you, include GPS lat/long data with any submission. Otherwise, GPS data is not needed.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Kickoff

Here we go. To learn what this is about, read THIS first. Nothing much to say yet here--but we have lots to do before gopher frog breeding season peaks around February. We'll start assembling a list of volunteers, and then devise some means of tracking who's looking where, finding what, etc. We'll need to authorize more people to co-author this blog. Ideas for how to make this work? Send 'em in!