College Ready to Count Endangered Salamanders

The study, which begins as soon as state collection permits are obtained, is part of the five-year monitoring program that will determine if the endangered salamander is still present and evaluate if the college and county’s management practices were effective in sustaining the species’ population, according to environmental consultant Joel Gove.
Evidence of two endangered species, the Eastern Tiger Salamander and the Southern Gray Treefrog – and two threatened species, the Redheaded Woodpecker and the Barred Owl – were discovered before construction began at ACCC’s Court House campus site or on the adjacent property. 
A compromise between the county and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in the form of a comprehensive management plan to protect the species, was created nearly six years ago.
Trails, observation decks, a breeding pond, and nesting boxes were among the specific requirements that had to be provided by either the college or the county.
 Terry Sampson, ACCC executive director of administration, reported the college changed the layout and design of the campus to include 12-inch curbing that is “intended to impede movement of the salamanders onto paved surfaces where they might be susceptible to vehicular mortality” and give them a clear path to their breeding pond.
The college also employed a stormwater management system that seconds as a breeding habitat, she said. The recharge basin retains water in the winter or time of draught and is surrounded by plants that are native to the wetlands. It also contains logs and branches that can provide surfaces for salamander’s egg attachment.
 Land adjacent to the pond will be reforested to “provide adequate vegetation.” The college, according to Sampson, maintains an 85 percent survival rate for vegetation.  
“We’re continually maintaining the site,” said Sampson. “We’re just entering the first year of the monitoring program to see if any changes occurred to the animal’s population.”
Gove, who had encountered a total of seven adult salamanders in the year 2000, said, “all the college could do is to manage their lands so that the population could remain stable.”
The salamander, which measures about 10-inches in length and is the most “widely distributed salamander in North America,” spends most of its life underground. It emerges about this time of year to breed in bodies of water.
Gove and his team are planning to create a drift fence that will act as a barrier between the forested area and the breeding ponds.
“The critters will run along the fence, trying to get to the water, and fall into a pitfall or funnel trap,” explained Gove.
“After they’re trapped, we’ll examine the weight, length, and general health of the creatures,” he said. “We’re essentially looking for a base line to see what the population is now.”
Tagging or marking of the individual creatures, are not permitted by the DEP.
Gove said that, because no juveniles, larvae or egg masses were found during the original investigation, the remaining adult salamanders could be “remnants” from a neighboring pond that is stocked with large mouth bass.
“If the fish population is thriving, then the salamander population could be suffering,” said Gove.
He added that amphibian populations are also prone to “boom and bust” periods and are very susceptible to weather fluctuations.
“It will be interesting to see what has happened to the population since all the work has been done at ACCC,” Gove said. “We won’t know for sure until we get out there.”
According to the management plan, the Southern Gray Treefrog, which was never seen, but was heard around the areas southwest of the site and the small isolated pond in the west, would also benefit from the added amenities.
The woodpeckers and the owls, however, are still waiting on the nesting boxes that were promised.
Both animals responded in 2000 to taped calls broadcast from the parking area near the train station. The management plan detailed an installation of nesting boxes on adjacent county-owned land that would serve both avian species.
“The boxes for the Barred Owl should be installed in late fall as nesting can start as early as the beginning of March,” the management plan specified.
“A proposed 12 number of boxes for the Redheaded Woodpecker should be placed in the pine oak habitat, south of the proposed Barred Owl nest boxes, and should be installed in the winter as nesting typically begins in late April,” the document states.
It also mentioned that local 4H and scouting groups as well as the Audubon Society and Cape May County Zoo might have an interest in assisting with the construction of the boxes.
Betty Jean Webersinn, director of the Rutgers Cooperate Research and Extension, recently told the Herald that the nesting box project was “not placed on the front burner.”
“Its not because it wasn’t of interest, but many other projects continued to come up,” Webersinn told the Herald. “We’re still planning on building the boxes as a learning experience for 4H students.”
Webersinn said that a meeting is scheduled with the 4H foundation on Jan. 30 and she hopes to get a firm timeline then. Completion is expected by next fall. 
Contact Huggins at: lhuggins@cmcherald.com