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Volunteers Needed for Frog and Toad Call Surveys
RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 2, 2009) – Got a good ear, an interest in frogs and toads and three nights to get outside and listen? If so, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission needs your help monitoring amphibian populations in North Carolina by participating in this year’s Calling Amphibian Survey Program (CASP). CASP volunteers adopt a survey route, stop along 10 spots on the route for three nights in a 4-month period, listen for 5 minutes and write down any frog and toad calls they hear. They submit their data either online or by mail before Oct. 1. The data collected is compiled and used to assess trends in frog and toad populations in North Carolina and the Southeast. CASP, now in its fourth year of implementation, has 139 survey routes available across the state. Surveys will be conducted during the following time periods: Jan. 15-Feb. 28; March 15-April 30; May 15-June 30. Volunteers will conduct at least one survey on their route within each of the three time periods. CASP volunteers receive a packet with monitoring materials and instructions. First-time volunteers who complete and submit their surveys receive a free copy of the Frogs and Toads of North Carolina CD and booklet, which was produced by the Commission in 2007. To assist volunteers in their frog-calling identification skills, eight workshops are being conducted across the state in February and March. At the workshops, volunteers will spend time learning call identification techniques and CASP protocols before spending time outdoors putting their newly acquired listening skills to the test. “Stop. Listen. Count. It’s a pretty simple process for those who already know their amphibian calls,” said Jeff Hall, a Commission herpetologist and coordinator of the N.C. Partners in Amphibian Conservation (NCPARC) and CASP. “And for those folks who don’t know their calls very well, these workshops will help them learn new calls and help them brush up on the calls they are already somewhat familiar with.” “Best of all, most of the workshops don’t cost participants a dime.” While participants can leave their money at home, they do need to bring to the workshops, along with an interest in frogs and toads, a willingness to learn their calls and a commitment to at least three surveys in each of the time periods. “We really want people to commit to running the routes that they have chosen,” Hall said. “CASP only works as it’s intended if people sign up, learn to identify the calls, run the routes, record what they heard, and turn that information in by the deadline.” CASP survey data, which have been collected since 2006, contribute to other information that has been gathered on the distribution and abundance of frogs and toads in North Carolina. Data from North Carolina have been pooled with other states so that biologists can determine regional and national trends in frog distribution and any changes in frog and toad populations. “Understanding these trends will provide us a better understanding of the status and health of our frog and toad populations, and will enable us to protect critical habitats for our frog and toad species,” Hall said. A world-wide decline in frogs and toads has prompted the U.S. Geological Survey to administer the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program, of which the Calling Amphibian Survey Program is a participating member. The North American Amphibian Monitoring Program developed an online database that allows state coordinators, volunteers and the public to interact directly by learning frog calls, taking frog call quizzes, entering data and downloading route information. For more information, visit www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp/. Funding for CASP comes from the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund, the primary source of state funds for the Commission’s Wildlife Diversity and Aquatic Nongame programs. The agency uses this fund to support nongame wildlife research, conservation and management, as well as to provide mandatory matching funds for federal and other grants. Nongame wildlife includes all the birds, mammals, fish, mollusks, reptiles, amphibians, and crayfish that do not have a designated hunting or fishing season. North Carolinians can support this effort as well as other nongame species research and management projects in North Carolina through the Tax Check-off for Nongame and Endangered Wildlife. Checking line No. 27 lets taxpayers designate part or all of their state tax refunds to this fund. Since 1984, taxpayers have given more than $8 million for wildlife conservation through this funding mechanism. Tax season isn’t the only time to give to wildlife. Other ways to help North Carolina’s wildlife and their habitats year-round are:
For more information on frog and toad monitoring programs in North Carolina, visit the NCPARC Web site, http://www.ncparc.org/casp/casp.htm. For more information on the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program, visit www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp/.
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