| Popis: |
The Oak Openings Preserve is the largest park within the Oak Openings Region in northwestern Ohio, a biodiversity hotspot where there have been no previous studies examining its herpetofauna biodiversity. Surveying herpetofauna can be impacted by the sampling methods; integrating information on the effectiveness of surveys can improve models on species distributions. Once an understanding of general herpetofauna distributions is described, we can begin to examine how individual species interact with their environment by measuring influential environmental factors. Using tracking methods can help us to further understand how organisms disperse and use habitats. We extensively surveyed herpetofauna biodiversity within the Oak Openings Preserve from 26 April to 27 September 2014 to understand spatial patterns and ecology within this landscape and to provide essential foundational research for future surveys. We created herpetofauna distribution maps and found that some species, especially amphibians, were more detectable. We used quadrat and opportunistic surveys, and found that fewer species and individuals, especially reptiles, were detected by quadrat sampling, except for Plethodon cinereus. We examined environment variables influencing species presence-absence and found that leaf litter, coarse woody debris, conifer needles, moist soil and plants were important factors. Detected herpetofauna tended to occupy forested areas; however this may have been partially a result of limitations within our sampling design. We further examined the details of spatial patterns by tracking box turtles using three methods to examine fine-scale movements. Previous studies have used thread trailing and radio telemetry; however this is the first study to compare and contrast these methods with fluorescent powder. Movement patterns by turtles were underestimated for thread trailing and radio telemetry when compared to fluorescent powder. On average per day, box turtles traveled for: thread trailing, 28.4 m, fluorescent powder, 46.0 m, and radio telemetry, 17.68 m. We found that thread trailing paths were more linear and fluorescent powder trails showed curves in the turtles’ pathways, while radio telemetry was the best method for relocating turtles. Our research results have helped us understand species occurrence across time and space, provided new insight for sampling herpetofauna and provided critical data on important taxa for conservation. |
