Amphibians
and reptiles
Kurt
A. Buhlmann1,*, Tracey D. Tuberville1, Yale Leiden,
Travis J. Ryan2, Sean Poppy1,
Christopher T. Winne1, Judith L. Greene1, Tony M.
Mills1, David E. Scott1, and J. Whitfield Gibbons1
1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P O Drawer E, Aiken, SC
29802
2Butler University, Department of Biological Sciences, 4600
Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208
Since
the establishment of the Savannah River Site (SRS), 103 species of amphibians
and reptiles have been documented there (Gibbons and Semlitsch 1991; Frazer
1995; Gibbons et al. 1997). Extensive long-term research has been conducted
on the herpetofauna of the SRS, largely by the Savannah River Ecology
Laboratory. Since the early 1990s, the U.S. Forest Service–Savannah
River, the Westinghouse Savannah River Company, and their cooperators
have conducted considerable herpetological
research.
The location of the SRS on the Upper Coastal Plain physiographicprovince
and its large variety of habitats allows a high diversity of herpetofauna.
In addition, over the past fifty years, the SRS landscape has recovered
from intensive agricultural use and is now
reforested. Although not pristine, in need of restoration for certain
habitats, and managed for timber products, the SRS has been spared from
the residential, commercial, and agricultural development that has fragmented
the surrounding landscape.
Amphibians and reptiles occur in all habitats on the SRS. Many common
species occur over a range of habitat types and successional stages (Grant
et al. 1994). Often species that are rare or in decline are restricted
to specific habitats. Furthermore, although some snake and lizard species
live only in terrestrial habitats, many amphibians and reptiles require
both aquatic and terrestrial habitats to complete their life cycles (Bennett,
Gibbons, and Franson 1970; Gibbons 1970; Gibbons and Bennett 1974; Semlitsch
1981; Gibbons, Greene, and Congdon 1983; Burke and Gibbons 1995; Pechmann
1995). Each of the 103 species of amphibians and reptiles on the SRS has
its own habitat requirements, some of which we do not adequately understand.
The design of management strategies that will benefit amphibians and reptiles
has been recognized as an essential conservation priority by Partners
in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC; Gibbons and Stangel 1999).
The SRS National Environmental Research Park is in a unique position to
lead in this effort. Few other locations in the southeastern United States
provide the opportunity found on the SRS for long-term conservation, research,
and management of a coastal plain amphibian and reptile assemblage.
This section will assess amphibian and reptile distributions on the SRS
and report how both historical land use and current SRS management affects
them. We provide information that will help manage, preserve, and enhance
herpetofaunal diversity. For species that are rare or habitat specific,
we provide distribution maps and specific information about their ecology
and management needs. We present an evaluation of the commonness or rarity
of each species occurring on SRS (table 4.20), following a model (table
4.21) proposed by Rabinowitz (1981).
*Contact:
Buhlmann@srel
SREL
Reprint #2916
Buhlmann, K.A., T.D. Tuberville, Y. Leiden, T.J. Ryan, S. Poppy, C.T. Winne, J.L. Greene, T.M. Mills, D.E. Scott, and J.W. Gibbons. 2005. Amphibians and reptiles. p. 203-223. In Biotic Communities. In Ecology and Management of a Forested Landscape: Fifty Years on the Savannah River Site, edited by J.C. Kilgo and J.I. Blake. Island Press.
