Salamander Chronicles

I will basically be living out of my 2000 Nissan Xterra from May-August.  Therefore I wanted to make sure that the vehicle was prepared for a summer of field work.  This meant replacing a broken leaf spring and my front and rear shocks.

Another big issue I will need to deal with this summer is a lack of some of the technology that makes doing research a bit easier.  Things that I can not really avoid will be a lack of cell service or internet at most field sites.  This is not a huge deal as I can go to coffee shops in nearby towns  and back up data and contact people when it is necessary.  The real issue I needed to address was a lack of electricity.  Could I get away without electricity during most of the summer?  Yes.  However, it would make the work much more cumbersome and I would also be at a greater risk of losing data.  Most of my field gear needs to be charged or takes batteries such as my flashlights, headlamps, temperature probe, moisture meter, and GPS.  I could theoretically carried a bunch of batteries with me, but that would have been a pretty big waste of batteries.  I also have a cell phone and laptop, both of which I will want to use to enter data and use important software such as ArcGIS.  They also help add some distractions after working in the forest all day, especially when I will have two field assistants all summer long.  I think it is especially important to make field assistants watch slasher horror movies with a camping theme right before we go to sleep while camping.

So in order to help alleviate this problem I made a few modifications to my vehicle.  One, I added a solar panel system.  This is hooked to a 400 watt inverted which is wired under the passenger seat.  The battery and controller are stored in the back of the car (first photo below) with the connection for the solar panel set near the roof so I can store the solar panel when not in use and easily set it up when I want to charge the battery.  Secondly, I had a Optima Yellowtop battery installed (second photo below) which is charged off the alternator and also directly linked to both DC outlets.   I also added a 1200 watt inverter (third photo below) connected directly to the battery. The plastic cover I added should have proper ventilation for the inverter but still protect it from any water or dirt that gets into the car when loading gear. This setup should offer my assistants and myself enough electricity to keep our cell phones, laptop, and field gear charged all summer long.

I also added in some PVC shelves (first photo below).  If I knew what I was doing they would probably be a little nicer, but they should get the job done.  I was also able to hook up an LED light strip (third photo below) to the underside of the shelf which hooks directly to the solar panel battery. The main purpose of the PVC shelving is to help keep gear organized all summer long.  The biggest problem I have had, even on short trips, is that gear starts out well organized and quickly gets jumbled as the work progresses.  I am hoping to avoid that as much as possible this summer.  In the second picture below you can see the 400 watt inverter under the passenger seat that is hooked to the solar panel system.  That photo also shows the mini PVC compartment I created to prop up the cooler and add a bit of extra storage space. If it is not obvious, I removed the back seat on the drivers side.  This adds some extra storage space and was easy to remove ( and will be easy to reattach later).

 

Finally, I cleaned up the car a bit, which is mostly just to have a clean start since I know it will become filthy during the course of the summer.  I also attached my reviewer mirror that was knocked off 3 years ago and also scrapped off all the old parking and registration stickers from the drive side windshield.  Now all that’s left is to see how well this vehicle works this summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well it has been a crazy month.  In all I applied for ~$75,000 in funding this year.  Much of this total came from applications submitted to 4 sources, National Geographic, National Science Foundation, the Explorer’s Club, and the Ohio University Student Enhancement Award, which all together totaled ~$63,000 .  I applied for several other smaller grants, but essentially without one of the large grants coming through I was going to be in serious trouble during the up coming field season.  During the final week of March I received rejections from most of these agencies including the National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant, which is not only very prestigious but also provides $12,000.  To put it lightly I was depressed and worried.

However, as it always seems to happen, with bad news came good news.  Despite already receiving an OCEES fellowship a few weeks earlier, which relieves me of teaching duties for a full semester, I was informed that I was awarded the Graduate College fellowship.  This fellowship is only awarded to 5 student in the university and provides a full year of tuition waivers and ~15,000 worth of service free stipend for the year.  This news really lifted my spirits  but I still needed money for research.  What good is time off from teaching if I do not have the money to do my research?

The end of the week rolled around and I assumed I would have to wait another weekend to find out about all of my pending grant applications, when Dr. Larry Witmer popped into my office to inform me that I received the Ohio University Student Enhancement Award!  This was a MAJOR relief because it provides $6,000 in research funds which would at least minimally support me for the rest of the year even if all my other grants fell through. Phew! relief has set in and now every other grant is just potential to improve my project.

Finally, on Tuesday April 2nd, I was notified that I once again received the Exploration Fund grant from the Explorers Club! This provides another $2,000 for my research which essentially ensures that I can deal with even unexpected problems this summer and still complete my field work as planned.  In all I have received $4,500 from the Explorers Club making them a big contributor to the success of my research.

I am still waiting to hear back from several other grants, but as of now I am comfortable, everything else will just be icing on the cake.

Essentially within a 2 week period I went from questioning my life in academia to a complete restoration of my confidence in myself and my project.  It is astonishing that many professors live so long and even continue working most of their lives, because I feel like I shave a year off my life every grant season dealing with these highs and lows.

While I am focusing on Plethodontid salamanders for my dissertation work, I still enjoy finding all amphibian species.  The spring breeding migration is one of the best times to see a large number of individuals as well as a diversity of species.  The spring migration occurs in early spring, normally early March when there is a hard rain and temperatures are around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  Typically, one qualification for a strong migration is a week or so of warmer temperatures to help warm the ground.  If it is freezing cold for weeks on end and we suddenly get a nice warm rain chances are the migration will be smaller and many individuals will wait until later in the year.  In a good year, the majority of individuals will migrate all around the same time, in years with odd weather, this can be broken up over several smaller migrations.

 

This year a few friends and myself went out on Monday March 11th.  This was probably the best migration I have experienced in my 3 years in Athens, OH.  We found a bunch of different species, most of which were in high numbers.

 

The night started around 8 pm on route 356 just outside of Athens.  The first salamander we found was several Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), always a joy to find because they are rarely seen outside of the migration and they are quite beautiful.

 

 

As the night continued on we started finding several species of frogs including Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), Green Frog (Rana clamitans), Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica), and Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also were treated to a somewhat unexpected surprise.  Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) migrate in the fall, however sometimes a few will be out during the spring migration.  Lucky for us, we stumbled across one during our search.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also saw several Red-spotted Newts.  Unfortunately, we also saw dozens of road killed salamanders and the newts seemed to be the majority of the dead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Towards the end of our night out, around 9:30 pm, we started to see the real push to the ponds with large numbers of all species, including a flood of Jefferson’s Salamanders (Ambystoma jeffersonianum).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, it was a great night!  Tons of awesome amphibians.  It really made me extra excited for starting field work in April.  I plan on posting a trip itinerary soon in case anyone wants to meet up with me during my field work this spring and summer.  Until then, I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 

 

If you have ever been with me while I am traveling or doing field work you know I like taking photos.  It started in Australia with me documenting my travels and partying adventures.  I have thousands of photos from that trips, mostly of the wonderful people I met there.  However, Australia was one of the rare time I actually took photos of people as I tend to focus on wildlife.  Finding a box turtle or little salamander in the woods might be an interesting 5 second encounter for most people, but for me, and many herpers, it becomes 10+ minute attempt to get a good photograph.  Photographing wildlife can be very challenging.  Mammals and birds typically require an expensive telephoto lens and/or a lot of patience.  Smaller creatures like insects or my favorites,   reptiles and amphibians, require less expensive equipment to get a good shot, but it certainly doesn’t hurt if you have some good gear. Smaller creatures also require some self control.  Twenty minutes for a photographer may not be a big deal, but the stress it puts on the animal can be fatal.  So sometimes you just need to know when to say enough is enough and except the photos you have.

 

I have had  a variety of cameras over the years.  I have   typically purchased Canon cameras, one because I have built up a collection of lens which only fit Canon cameras, and second I have always liked the quality of the photos they have produced which has given me no reason to want to switch to another company.  The only non-Canon camera I own is  a Panasonic Lumix which is mostly for field work.  It is water and dust proof and can handle up to a 2 meter drop.  However, I have found that I really like using a SLR camera over the easy to use point and shoot.  My first real use of an SLR camera was one of Canon’s first digital versions made for amateurs, the Canon XT.  I purchased this camera almost 7 years ago.  The XT still works but has some technical issues that make it pretty difficult to use for wildlife photography.  Given it has been almost 7 years and the technology has improved I was thinking it might be time to upgrade.  I did not have the money available for one at this time, but luckily my lovely mother gave me a surprise this Christmas with a new Canon T3i.

 

I wont bore you with all the details about the camera, but I will point out some great features that will help my amphibian photography. As my project deals with salamanders I anticipate taking thousands of photos of them over the next two years.  However, salamanders are surprisingly difficult to photograph.  They move a lot and also have a very wet sheen making the built in flash of most cameras pretty useless.  Unfortunately, salamanders love dark places making the use of a flash a must!  The Canon T3i helps prevent some of these problems. The biggest plus in my book is the wireless flash capabilities built into the camera.  This allows me to use an external flash from multiple angles.  I purchased a 320EX flash to go along with the camera.  This external flash includes a constant LED light for videos and also allows me to trigger the camera remotely   Which means I can setup the camera and hold the flash from a different position and still take a picture. The camera also comes with a nice EFS 18-55mm lens with a built in image stabilizer.  Using a tripod with salamanders is not ideal, but it is also really hard to get a good depth of field without closing the aperture.  The image stabilizer will let me  free hand shoots with a small aperture and still get clear photos.     The camera also has other great features such as an HD movie mode and a flip out LCD screen, both of which are major improvement over my original XT.

 

Right now I have a good camera setup with the Canon T3i digital SLR, Fotodiox Extension tubes, EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III USM telephoto lens, fixed EF-S 60mm 1:2.8 USM macro lens,  EFS 18-55mm Immage stabalized macro lens, 320EX Speedlite External Flash, and a set of Tiffen lens filters.  I am excited to get out and use them this spring!

In early October I took two field ecology students, Aleesha Tartell and Megan Zdybowicz, down to my field sites in order to gather data from my iButton and HOBO microstation dataloggers.  The trip only lasted 5 days but we still managed to get a lot accomplished.  In addition to gathering data from all of my data loggers and then redeploying each of them, we also completed both Aleesha’s and Megan’s independent  field ecology project.  The trip involved a substantial amount of driving which ended up totaling around 32 hours in the car.  It was also a little colder than I expected so we were not as successful locating salamanders as I would have liked.  However, we did manage to make some interesting finds. The biggest discovery of the trip was that bears (or some other medium/large mammal) really likes plastic. The research coordinator for the Smokys had warned me about this which is why I buried the majority of my data loggers.  Unfortunately, two of my HOBO microstations were attacked despite my protective efforts.  Only one of them was totally missing.  I at least  like to think that some bear got a bit of enjoyment out of my expensive equipment before losing it in the woods somewhere. That makes the several hundred dollars lost less painful. Overall, it was a good trip and I retrieved a large amount of data  and I hope that Aleesha and Megan enjoyed the experience.  Again, because I am so late on this update, I am just including some of the interesting photos from the trip without extensive comment.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I had some WordPress issues and I lost all my previous blog posts.  Luckily, I had a cached version and I re-posted all of them and I will keep a better record of my posts in case this happens in the future.

First a quick update of all the boring stuff from the last few months.  The fall semester was spent primarily applying for grants.  In total I submitted around $60,000 worth of grant applications.  I have already received $750 worth of funding from the Ohio GSS (I also received rejections from two other applications), but overall I am confident I will at minimum have enough money to comfortably be in the field May-August in 2013.  I also advanced to candidacy which means I can mostly focus on research for the remainder of my time at Ohio University.  Finally, I recently updated my website with some new content and changed the style around a bit.   The most important update was the addition of a new photo page which will display photo from all of my travels and field seasons.

 

The past few months included a few entertaining research activities including a trip to Vancouver, BC for the 7th World Congress of Herpetology and a quick 5 day trip down to my field sites to collect data loggers.

 

The World Congress of Herpetology was a great experience.  I flew into Berkeley, CA and drove up to Vancouver, BC with the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology crew. I obviously enjoy conferences for the exposure to cutting edge research, but it is also great to catch up with friends that are scattered all over the world.  Because I am so late on this update I will just include some photos I took at the World Congress including an awesome tailed frog (Ascaphus truei) we found before we drove back to California.

 

  

 

 

 

 

I will post about my fall field work in the next couple days.  The adventure includes bears, elk, and damaged expensive equipment!  So much fun!

 

 

AUGUST 2012

First off, this is long over due. As soon as I returned from this trip I had to get ready for my next trip to the west coast for the World Congress of Herpetology (post to come later) hence the delay in my final summer field work update.

Round two of 2012 field work started on July 16th at the Peaks of Otter Campsite off of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.  I was lucky enough to have the assistance of the wonderful Kaili Boarman during this stretch of work. This trip was a long sprint, bouncing from field site to field site.  We did not stay at any site more than 2 days and we typically moved every day to  a different campsite. Quick outline of the schedule:

• July 16th – 18th: Peaks of Otter and Rocky Knob, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Virginia
• July 18th – 19th: Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee
• July 20th – 21st: Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina
• July 22nd – 26th: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina

There were three primary goals for this trips:1) place data loggers along the Blue Ridge Parkway and in the Great Smoky Mountains, 2) collect more preliminary data, and 3) scout new field sites for next season.

The first part of the trip was a blast from the past as I had visited these sites 6 years ago on a John Carroll herpetology class field trip. My main goal was to find the Peaks of Otter salamander (Plethodon hubrichti).

However, I did not realize until too late that the Peaks of Otter salamander is primarily found in areas adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were able to find a few species in micro-habitat plots such as this red spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) and a two-lined salamander (Eurycea cirrigera), but the Peaks of Otter salamander evaded us. We did however see a pretty cool moth outside the bathroom of the campsite.

 

 

 

On our way out of Peaks of Otter we stopped at a location I had in my class field notes from 2006. Surprise, surprise, several Peaks of Otter salamanders with only a couple minutes of searching! I will need to get some additional permits for next year apparently.

 

Rocky Knob was at too low of an elevation to easily find salamanders in the middle of July so we simply placed a data logger station and continued on to Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee to a location I had not been to before. We stayed at a nice quiet campsite called Backbone Rock right next to a stream . It was right next to a road but still very peaceful.

 

 

 

I was hoping to find Weller’s (Plethodon welleri) and Yonahlossee (Plethodon yonahlossee) salamanders in this area, but because it was the middle of July I was not disappointed when we did not find any. Next year should be much more productive as I was also able to find some known localities from researches I met on the trip. We found some common species, collected some much needed preliminary data, and saw some gorgeous mushrooms (photo taken by Kaili).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had a visitor stroll up on us while collecting data on Iron Ridge Trail, a big black bear! I was bent over recording soil moisture for one of the plots when my assistant Kaili noticed something down the trail. “Vinny, there’s a bear.” said in the calmest voice possible. I looked down the trail and noticed what had to be a 350+ lb bear walking into the trail and starting to head towards us. My immediate reaction, “How can I hide all this expensive equipment very quickly”. Luckily, as soon as the bear realized we were there he took off down the hill faster than I thought was physically possible. It was a nice adrenaline rush.

Next we headed to yet another area I had never been before, Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. Unfortunately, the majority of the sites I had permission to use for research were lower elevation so I was not able to collect as much data as I would have liked. However, I was able to scout several new locations for next year at higher elevations including locations near Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi river. We found several cool species and I am very excited about working in these areas next spring. It was especially cool to see Plethodon montanus right next to Desmognathus sp..

 

The final leg of the trip was spent back in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We needed to set up 4 data logger stations as well as collect as much data as possible in only 4 short days. Once again we stayed at Purchase Knob which was a great treat after a week of camping. We also saw some cool non-salamander animals such as some gorgeous butterflies on a pile of dung and a basking garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis).

 

 

 

 

We returned to the majority of field sites that I visited earlier in the summer and found many of the same species with one additional surprise species, spring salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus)! Kali flipped the spring salamander under some bark 50 feet from a stream. It was a nice change after the large quantities of small Plethodon, Eurycea, and Desmognathusspecies typically encountered (last four photos).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall this was another great trip. I was able to gather some preliminary data (not as much as I would have liked, but enough). I was also able to set up all of my data logger stations. Finally, I was able to scout new locations to ensure next year is very productive. Most importantly I was able to figure out issues with my original data collection methodology and fix a lot of minor problems. Those minor problems could have compounded and made next year a nightmare if I was not able to address them in a limited field season such as the one I had this year.

Just a few of the problems I plan on fixing before next year include getting permission to collect tissue samples to ensure correct identification of all salamanders (Desmognathus sp. can be tricky!), setting up a solar panel charging station to help with powering my equipment without requiring staying at a motel or finding an outlet to charge all my devices, obtaining more storage space for my car to keep my equipment better organized, and most importantly making adjustments to the variables I record to maximize the potential of the data I collect. I am very excited for next year all ready!

I will end this post like I ended my first field work post, with a few panorama shots from the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUNE 2012

Well, this will certainly be a very busy summer.

My goal is to scout my field locations and to collect some preliminary data.  Most data collection will be limited to higher elevation field sites because lower elevation salamanders are much less active and primarily not on the surface during these hot/dry summer months. As a result of delayed permits and the World Congress of Herpetology I am limited to 3 weeks of field work.  This first stretch lasted from June 11th-June17th and was fairly successful.

The trip started with a 7 hour drive to the Crosby campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Cosby is on the Tennessee side and is at a fairly low elevation (~650 m).  As both a pro and a con, it was raining when I arrived at the campground (pro for salamanders /con for setting up my tent). I was greeted with a nice box turtle crossing the road leading to the campground as I arrived most likely moving because of the nice warm rain.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky for me, high elevation sites were in the works for the next 4 days…

During the remaining 5 nights I would be staying at Purchase Knob Research Station on the North Carolina side of the park.  I knew nothing about Purchase Knob before arriving so I was not expecting anything too fancy.  Well, I was mistaken.  The station was big, clean, comfortable, and had an amazing view.  Besides myself there were only 4 other researchers at the station.  Additionally, they were doing night surveys (of salamanders, because everyone loves salamanders) so essentially I had the place to myself every night.  The one downside was that driving to my sites took almost 3 hours round trip every day.

Enough about the lame non-salamander stuff.  I visited 4 field sites in higher elevation locations (>900 m).  Each field site produced a cornucopia of salamander abundance and diversity.

The first site I visited was the Thomas Ridge trail off of route 441 that runs straight through the park and connects North Carolina and Tennessee.  This site was over 1400 m so I was really hoping for some Plethodon jordoni.  Much to my enjoyment I found a P. jordoni under the first log I flipped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things were looking up.  After setting up my 1 m plot and collecting microhabitat data I managed to find another P. jordoni in the plot!  The disappointment from the first 2 days was quickly fading. I was able to complete 4 plots and found several more P. jordoni.  The last plot however produced something that I was dreading a little, a nice Desmognathus.  Now, if you know salamanders, you know the species of the Desmognathus genus are quite difficult to identify.  I am pretty sure that given the elevation I was at that this was a Desmognathus ocoee however I am not confident on that assessment.

JUNE 2012

The string of good news continues! The American Philosophical Society awarded me the Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research! This award allows me to start work that I did not think would be possible until next year. I will now be able to purchase long term data loggers w/ sensors for temperature, moisture, and relative humidity. My goal is to set up four preliminary long term microhabitat monitoring stations in both Wayne National Forest and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Each station will be contained within one of my 1 m^2 plots. I will place a HOBO Micro station with one soil moisture sensor placed into the top 5m of soil of open ground (not covered by rocks, logs, etc.) and one soil moisture sensor into the top 5 cm of soil under a cover object. I will also place three temp ibuttons to record temperature 20 cm below ground, 5 cm below ground, and in the leaf litter. Finally, I will use a temp/humidity ibutton to record temperature and relative humidity just above ground level. Each station will be able to record data continuously every hour for over 6 months. These will be critically important data. Hopefully, I can increase the number of stations next year.

For now, I will start collecting data and refining my methods!

MAY 2012

I have finally gotten most of my field gear together. In all, I will be carrying a lot of equipment out with me every day, but it manages to pack down to a fairly compact size.

It certainly seems like a lot but you can see it all packs down into a pelican case, hiking pack, and a fanny pack (I may switch that out for a photographers vest). I have tried the gear on and over all it seems like it will not be too difficult to hike around with it. I may also lighten my load a bit after I test out my methods in the next couple weeks. Right now I am thinking a cube (shown put together in my first photo) will let me photograph and measure cover objects and vegetation in my plots. However, I think I can easily accomplish this using only the square base with one or two poles sticking up for height measurements. If I use this approach I will save probably 2 kg of pack weight. 

I will be starting much later than I would like and will only be able to get one months worth of data in before the middle of summer.  However, this should set me up for a very productive field season this coming fall and next spring. The main goals for this year is to collect preliminary data, narrow down my field sites, tweak my data collection methods, and prepare for my proposal defense in fall. At the moment I think I am on the right track.

I also made a walking stick out of left over PVC pipe. I marked off 1 m in 0.5 cm increments. This will function as a handy walking stick but also will let me easily measure leaf litter, vegetation, and other things while I am out in the field. In addition to the obvious equipment in the photo I also have a 50 m tape measure, 6 inch digital calipers, and several steal rulers on the way. I also stocked up on spare batteries for all my electronic equipment. 

I am also going to try something relatively risky. I plan on recording my data on my ASUS transformer prime tablet. I consider this risky because I will be out in the forest and exposed to the elements. Therefore, recording data on it may not be possible in all situations, and there is also the possibility of damage to the tablet. I am taking three major precautions to help prevent any problems from occurring. Firstly, I purchased a Gumdrop protective case for the tablet which should protect it from falls and make it at least splash resistant. Second, I will be storing it in my pelican case with my other electronic devices, so it should remain well protected when not in use. Finally, I also purchased rite-in-the-rain copier paper to use as a back up system. This means if it is raining or appears like it might rain I can simply use the rite-in-the-rain paper to avoid potential damage to the tablet. If the tablet ends up working, I will save myself from entering a lot of data.

I am certainly starting to get excited. I will update more once I start collecting data.