Herpetofaunal communities of riparian areas in two selected sites of southwest Missouri.
Chevalier, Cary
Diversity of the herpetofaunal community was assessed at two
Missouri Army National Guard training sites-Camp Crowder in Newton
County and Camp Clark in Vernon County. Eleven ponds, three lakes and
five streams were sampled, including their riparian areas. An emphasis
was placed on determining the presence of endangered and/or threatened
species. A variety of trapping methods were used in order to maximize
the number of species captured. Methods included drift fences with
pitfall traps, artificial covers, hand capturing, scan searching,
seining, frog calls, electroshock fishing, dip nets and hoop nets.
Species, date, time of day, climate, dominant vegetation, CPS
coordinates and the trapping method were recorded for each individual
found. Preliminary identifications show 22 species at Camp Crowder, and
21 species at Camp Clark, with 27 total species in the two sampling
areas, No endangered or threatened species were found at either sampling
area. Aerial photos, land cover types, and GPS coordinates will be used
in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visually represent the
herpetofaunal community at Camp Clark and Camp Crowder.
* Bilbrey (1), L., S. Cairns (1) and T. Schulte (2). (1) Department
of Biology, Central Missouri State University and (2) Missouri Army
National Guard.