AMPHIBIANS
Breeding Gopher Frogs: Then and Now by Aubrey Greene, Wildlife Diversity Biologist/Herpetologist T he hot summer months are a good time to do some desk work analyzing acoustic (froglogger) data from the win- ter monitoring season. This past winter we had frogloggers deployed at eleven seasonal wetlands across the Sandhills from December through part of April. To analyze the data, we use specialized acoustic software that allows us to visually see in addition to hearing the recordings, which aids identification of the calls of species of interest like the Carolina gopher frog and ornate chorus frog. This year we detected gopher frogs at seven ponds and ornate chorus frogs at four! In comparison, gopher frogs were only detected at three of the six monitored wetlands the previous year. This past winter started off much wetter than recent years which helped increase breed- ing activity across the region. Sandhills gopher frogs are getting an early start this year with multiple heavy rain events filling ponds in August and September and spurring breeding activity that has already resulted in 12 egg masses! Two egg masses were found at the reintroduction wetland which is a great sign for the continued survival and success of this State Endangered amphibian.
JEFF HALL/NCWRC
41 2024 Wildlife Diversity Program Annual Report
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