BIOTIC INVENTORY IN THE SCHWOEBEL TRACT
AT
VALLEY FORGE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2006/068

Richard H. Yahner, Jacob E. Kubel1¹, and Bradley D. Ross²

School of Forest Resources
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802

¹current address:
Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
1 Rabbit Hill Road
Westborough, MA 01581

²current address:
734 Partridge Lane
State College, PA 16803November 2006

U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Northeast Region
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Summary

As national parks and other public lands become more insular from increased habitat fragmentation, these lands will be essential for maintaining floral and faunal diversity as well as the functional integrity of ecosystems throughout the eastern United States (Ambrose and Bratton 1990; Yahner 2000). Inventory data on flora and fauna provide an understanding of relative abundance and distribution of park biota and, therefore, aid in creation and evaluation of management plans for certain species. The National Park Service (NPS) has determined a need for comprehensive information about the biological resources on the Schwoebel tract (acquired in August 2004) to complement recently conducted inventories of amphibians and reptiles (hereafter termed herpetofauna; Tiebout 2003a; Yahner 2006a), mammals (Yahner et al. 2006a, 2006b), birds (Yahner et al. 2001a), and vegetation (Lundgren et al. 2002) at Valley Forge National Historical Park (VAFO). The objectives of our inventory were to document (1) presence, relative abundance, and distribution of herpetofauna, mammals, and birds on the Schwoebel tract, and (2) presence of woody plant species on the Schwoebel tract.

We surveyed herpetofauna, mammals, birds, and woody plants between 9 February–28 October 2004 using opportunistic observations (all taxa) and general search (herpetofauna), anurancalling (herpetofauna), artificial cover-object transect (herpetofauna), live-trapping (mammal), spotlighting (mammal), point-count (birds), and owl (birds) surveys. We detected 11 species of herpetofauna, including four salamander, four anuran, one turtle, and two snake species on the Schwoebel tract at VAFO. All herpetofauna were species documented previously at VAFO (Tiebout 2003a), and none was recognized as a federal or state species of special concern. We documented 14 species of mammals on the tract with only one species of weasel (Mustela spp.) not documented previously at VAFO. None of the mammal species was recognized as species of special concern. Additionally, we observed 73 bird species during 2004 on the Schwoebel tract, including seven species listed federally as birds of conservation concern and/or Audubon WatchList species. Most notably, four of the species of concern (American woodcock [Scolopax minor], willow flycatcher [Empidonax traillii], wood thrush [Hylocichla mustelina], and Louisiana waterthrush [Seiurus motacilla]) potentially bred on the tract. All species were detected previously during a recent bird inventory at VAFO (Yahner et al. 2001a). While conducting surveys of vertebrates we documented 78 species of woody plants via opportunistic observations. Forty-eight woody plant species were considered new records for the tract, as they were not included in the vegetation alliances used to describe the Schwoebel tract during the most recent vegetation-mapping project conducted at VAFO (Lundgren et al. 2002).

In conjunction with recently completed herpetofauna, mammal, and bird inventory projects and vegetation mapping at VAFO, information acquired during our research project on the Schwoebel tract will be included with the extensive long-term database of flora and fauna at VAFO. Data obtained during our inventory contribute to an understanding of presence, relative abundance, and distribution of species within VAFO. Based on knowledge and information derived from inventories of flora and fauna, resource management specialists will be able to make informed decisions on how best to manage natural resources within the national parks.

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