An opportunistic amphibian inventory in Alaska's national parks 2001-2003. Final Report
Dates
Year
2004
Citation
Anderson, Blain C., 2004, An opportunistic amphibian inventory in Alaska's national parks 2001-2003. Final Report: National Park Service Alaska Region< Inventory and Monitoring Program: Anchorage, AK, 44 Pages-44 Pages.
Summary
The National Park Service, Southeast Alaska Network (SEAN), identified amphibians as a taxonomic group of concern at the Biological Inventory Scoping Meeting in April 2000, because distribution, status and habitat requirements are poorly understood in Alaska for most species. In order to begin to understand basic distribution and species survival, an opportunistic amphibian inventory was developed for 2001-03 by the Inventory & Monitoring Program. In all, 78 observations were recorded in 10 of the 16 National Parks of Alaska, finding approximately 1600 amphibians in three years. Species found included western toad Bufo boreas, wood frog Rana sylvatica, Columbian spotted frog R. luteiventris, and surprisingly, a single rough-skinned [...]
Summary
The National Park Service, Southeast Alaska Network (SEAN), identified amphibians as a taxonomic group of concern at the Biological Inventory Scoping Meeting in April 2000, because distribution, status and habitat requirements are poorly understood in Alaska for most species. In order to begin to understand basic distribution and species survival, an opportunistic amphibian inventory was developed for 2001-03 by the Inventory & Monitoring Program. In all, 78 observations were recorded in 10 of the 16 National Parks of Alaska, finding approximately 1600 amphibians in three years. Species found included western toad Bufo boreas, wood frog Rana sylvatica, Columbian spotted frog R. luteiventris, and surprisingly, a single rough-skinned newt Taricha granulosa and a northwestern salamander Ambystoma gracile. Incidental to this project, long-term residents reported anecdotes of once abundant western toad populations in Gustavus, Alaska, at the entrance to Glacier Bay, noting significant declines in numbers from the 1970s to today. Additionally, a search for specimens collected in and near the parks was accomplished using the University of Alaska Museum¿s Arctos Database.
