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Amphibian Monitoring Results - 2000 RANA(Researching Amphibian Numbers in Alberta)  Monitoring amphibian populations and public education
about amphibians inhabiting Alberta.
Lisa Takats Alberta Conservation Association March 2001 Executive Summary The RANA (Researching Amphibians Numbers in Alberta) program has been running at Beaverhill Lake since 1997. Funding cuts reduced the amount of time the site was run in 2000. Only 186 traps nights were run on the pitfall traps. A total of 16 amphibians were captured, 2 boreal chorus frogs and 14 wood frogs. No tiger salamanders were captured or seen during the entire summer. Talks about the RANA program and volunteer monitoring were given during the annual Snow Goose Festival in April. Future work will include call surveys to better estimate populations of amphibians in the area. Introduction  Beaverhill Lake Natural Area was selected as a RANA (Researching Amphibian Numbers in Alberta) monitoring site to represent the aspen-parkland eco-region of Alberta. This landscape of rolling gravel piles and potholes is termed "knob andkettle" topography (Dekker 1998). The RANA site was set up in 1997, and has only been run full time in 1998 and 1999 due to funding restraints. Methods Three groups of fencing were installed along the east shore of Lister Lake approximately 10-30m from the water's edge in grassland-willow complexes. With the very dry season the fences were more than 50 m from the waters edge. The site was run for 1 week in the month of May. Results A total of 186 traps nights were run on the pitfall traps. There were 16 amphibians captured, 2 boreal chorus frogs and 14 wood frogs. No tiger salamanders were observed during the entire summer.
Thanks to the Beaverhill Bird Observatory staff who voluntarily ran the traps in the spring of 2000, Chuck Priestley, Tyler Flockhart, and Richard Krikun. Literature Dekker, Dick. 1998. Priarie Water, Wildlife at Beaverhills Lake, Alberta. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, Alberta. Flockhart, T. 1999. Monitoring amphibian populations and public education about amphibians inhabiting Alberta: Beaverhill Lake Natural Area Research Site Spring/Summer Report 1999. Beaverhill Bird Observatory, Edmonton, Alberta. Rice, C. 1998. Researching amphibian numbers in Alberta at Beaverhill Lake Natural Area. Beaverhill Bird Observatory, Edmonton, Alberta. |
