Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Report for April–June 2025
Monitoring Day and Night by Aubrey Heupel Greene, Wildlife Diversity Biologist T he Sandhills herpetology staff spent the spring months monitoring amphibians both day and night. Days were spent dip-netting ephemeral (temporary) wetlands for larval amphibians, while nighttime was for frog call surveys throughout the region. Sampling with dip nets is part of a long-term monitoring project to assess wetland restoration efforts on Sandhills Game Land. We visited all 24 study wetlands and 16 had sufficient water for sampling. Eight wetlands were dry during most of the spring survey period (mid-April through mid-June), but recent rains should make for great summer surveys! Species detected varied by site but overall, we detected 10 frog species and one species of salamander. The highlight was the large schools of spadefoot toad tadpoles that made the water look like it was boiling as they surfaced to gulp air. They were already emerging from one wetland; there were so many it looked like the ground was moving! We are conducting night surveys for the second year of pine barrens treefrog monitoring. Surveys have been more fruitful this year because it’s been a rainy spring/early sum- mer. We conducted the first survey after a warm rain event on
March 31st and detected the first pine barrens treefrogs of the season — earlier than expected! Over the course of the quarter, we con- ducted 20 night surveys, visiting 134 unique sites across the Sandhills region. Of those sites, pine barrens treefrogs were calling at 26. We have also heard 16 addi- tional species, including oak toads, another Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in North Carolina. Night surveys will continue through July so long as the rains continue!
ELIJAH THOMPSON
AUBREY HEUPEL GREENE/NCWRC
AUBREY HEUPEL GREENE/NCWRC
Dip-netting – Staff walking to a wetland to dipnet for amphibians. Left: Spadefoot Toad Tadpoles – Dipnet full of tadpoles. Right: Spadefoot Toad Tadpole Schools – large schools of tadpoles ob- served in an ephemeral wetland while dip-netting
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