Lab - Herp Management & General Info Flashcards
What makes management of herpetofauna especially difficult?
In some cases, we can only access them in one of their life stages easily
They are highly sensitive to habitat changes, requiring specific microhabitats that are not easily replicated
They are really difficult to house or breed in captivity
Describe 7 capture techniques used for herp management
ARU - audio recording units to measure presence/absence of frogs
Dipnet surveys - for amphibians in breeding pools, easily catch egg masses, larvae, tadpoles
Active searches - for example, flipping rocks to find amphibians and snakes
Pitfall traps - manipulate environment to lead amphibians and reptiles into bucket they can’t escape
Coverboards - tin or wood used to create hot spots that attract snakes
Funnel traps - best for turtles, enter through a funnel and unable to find their way back out
indirect sign - scat, tracks, hair, etc.
What is capture-mark-recapture data used for?
- Pop size estimates
- Density estimates
- Survival rates
- Movement/dispersal data
- Home range
What are some marking techniques used for capture-mark-recapture?
- PIT tags - transceivers implanted into snakes
- Visible Implant Elastomers (VIEs) - fluorescent gel injected into individuals of amphibian species with translucent skin
- Toe/scale clipping - lizards, clip first digit of toe or certain scales in specific patterns
- Shell notching - turtles
- Temporary tags - lizards, beading or metal tags
- Photographic identification (non-invasive) - use computer program to identify unique features of individuals, such as scale patterns on lizards
How would capture-mark-recapture be used to estimate a population size?
How is radio telemetry data used?
What are oviparous, ovoviviparous, and viviparous?
What do ectotherm and heterotherm mean with regards to reptiles?
What adaptations allowed reptiles to live their full lifecycle on land?
What adaptations to land developed in amphibians to separate them from fish?
Why are amphibians important for conservation?
Define fossorial
burrowing, adapted to living underground
Define aposematic coloration
conspicuous markings or coloration serving to warn off predators
Define arboreal
adapted to living in trees
define sexually dimorphic
sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics (ex: coloration)
