Appendix 2-7
Success Story 7 — How Conservation Actions Help Protect Species
Gopher Frog
The gopher frog, endemic to the longleaf pine ecosystem of the Southeast Coastal Plain, is found from Alabama to North Carolina. These frogs need grassy, ephemeral wetlands for breeding and migrate long distances from large, frequently burned longleaf pine/wiregrass uplands during the non-breeding season. Listed as a State Special Concern species in 1990 due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and fire suppression, the gopher frog was uplisted to State Endangered in 2017. Gopher frogs get their common name from the fact that adults commonly use the burrows of the gopher tortoise ( Gopherus polyphemus ) as hiding places in the deep south. In North Carolina, gopher frogs hide in stump holes, root tunnels and mammal and crayfish burrows. Gopher tortoises are not found in North Carolina.
In the 2015 SWAP, it was the highest priority amphibian species. One recommendation was to identify opportunities for population augmentation and restoration. To address this, NCWRC began using head-starting techniques to augment five of the seven remaining populations. Head-starting involves collecting a portion of an egg mass, raising it
Adult Gopher Frog (Jeff Hall NCWRC)
in captivity through metamorphosis, and releasing the frogs back into the wild. This method aims to increase survival rates by protecting the vulnerable egg and tadpole stages from predation. One target population was a single natural breeding wetland on Sandhills Game Lands. In 2016, NCWRC partnered with The North Carolina Zoo to head-start a portion of every egg mass found, resulting in the release of 920 metamorph gopher frogs from 2016 to 2024, along with 787 head-started tadpoles. To improve population resiliency, head-started metamorphs began being released at a restored wetland on Sandhills Game Lands in 2020. By the end of 2023, 968 metamorphs and 664 head- started tadpoles had been released. In spring 2024, NCWRC biologists heard calling male gopher frogs and found five egg masses at the reintroduction wetland, with additional egg masses laid in fall 2024 and spring 2025.
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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