C&O Canal Amphibian Monitoring 2023

Wood frog (Rana sylvatica)

NPS / C. Shafer

Home to at least 19 amphibian species!

We monitor wetlands and streams at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Park. Field teams visit wetlands and streams, recording which amphibian species they observe and in which sites. Looking across all sites in a park, they generate a measure of species “occupancy,” that shows what proportion of sites are occupied by a particular species.

We want to know, “is there a change in occupancy over time?”

A few amphibian species are found outside of the wetland and stream environments that we monitor (like terrestrial, red-backed salamanders and burrowing, eastern spadefoot toads). These species may live in the park, but our monitoring is not designed to document them. While we do record incidental sightings, they are excluded from the data analysis.

Wetland Amphibians

In 2023, we observed seven wetland species. A burrowing amphibian species, the eastern spadefoot toad, was also observed during the wetland survey. Since amphibian monitoring began in 2005, a total of 14 wetland species have been observed (see Figure 1). Lower numbers in 2023 are the result of fewer visits to monitoring sites. Usually there are two each year. Field crews visited 30 wetlands once in March of 2023.

Wood frogs were the most abundant amphibian detected (2,151 larvae and 11 egg masses). Spotted salamanders were observed at the most wetlands (8 of 30 wetlands), followed by wood frogs and marbled salamanders.

Wetland Amphibian Occupancy Trends

Graphs showing occupancy probability by amphibian species in wetland pools at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Park.

NPS

Field technicians survey amphibians near a wetland.

NPS / C. Shafer

How to read the wetland occupancy figure

• Dark gray bars show the occupancy based on raw amphibian sightings
• Black dots (connected by black lines) are estimates of occupancy. (Estimates help fill in observation gaps since amphibians can easily hide and avoid detection, so that there are usually more individuals present than can be counted by monitoring teams).
• Light gray shaded areas are 95% credible intervals
• "Gray treefrog complex" and "Toad complex" refer to closely related gray treefrog species and toad species are grouped together
• The “Trend” text box at the top of each graph contains a numeric trend value and a color that shows the direction of estimated occupancy trends. Blue is positive, white is neutral, yellow is slightly negative, and red is negative. The numbers in the parentheses represent the 95% credible intervals
• Species are listed in alphabetical order by their common names

Stream amphibians: Occupancy trends

As of 2023, field crews have observed 3 stream salamander species: northern dusky salamanders, northern two-lined salamanders, and northern red salamander (see Figure 2). One terrestrial salamander species was detected on the stream bank during surveys, the eastern red-back salamander, which is excluded from stream occupancy analysis. Field crews visited 7 streams once in May of 2023.

Northern two-lined salamanders were the most abundant (5 adults, 1 juvenile, and 19 larvae) and were observed at the most streams in 2023.

Figure 2. Graph showing occupancy probability by salamander species in streams at C&O Canal Park (EBIS=northern two-lined salamander, DFUS=northern dusky salamander, PRUB=northern red salamander). Black dots are estimated occupancy values, and grey vertical lines show 95% confidence intervals.

NPS / C. Shafer

These data are preliminary or provisional and are subject to revision. They are being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The data have not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and are provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the data.