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The use of nest boxes by the hellbender salamander in Western North Carolina by Morgan Harris, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 01:32 PM: The hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is a unique, large-bodied amphibian that serves as an excellent water quality indicator species in Western North Carolina. This animal has suffered substantial population declines over the past four decades throughout its range. Increased stream siltation largely attributed to human development fills the concave undersides of large rocks, consequently destroying hellbender breeding habitat. Habitat degradation has contributed to reductions in North Carolinian populations to such a degree that the species is now considered of Special Concern in the state. In order to restore hellbender population sizes under current land use conditions, researchers have recently begun developing artificial nest boxes that exclude sediment and promote increased reproduction. To identify the short-term efficacy of these shelters as substitutes for natural hellbender habitat in Western North Carolina, I constructed and placed 54 boxes across five river sites throughout the region. Following summer nest box installment, I examined each shelter through the breeding season for hellbender in habitation and to determine the quality of water passing through the structures. Additionally, I created a maximum entropy species distribution model and conducted a spatial connectivity analysis for the hellbenders of Western North Carolina to identify ideal locations for nest boxes installation in the future. Although no hellbenders have yet been detected in the artificial shelters, additional structural improvements and time may reveal nest boxes to be useful conservation tools for this iconic species of Special Concern.

Evaluating artificial shelter arrays as a minimally invasive monitoring tool for the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) by Morgan Harris, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 01:32 PM: Hellbenders Cryptobranchus alleganiensis are critically imperiled amphibians throughout the eastern USA. Rock-lifting is widely used to monitor hellbenders but can severely disturb habitat. We asked whether artificial shelter occupancy (the proportion of occupied shelters in an array) would function as a proxy for hellbender abundance and there by serve as a viable alternative to rock-lifting. We hypothesized that shelter occupancy would vary spatially in response to hellbender density, natural shelter density, or both, and would vary temporally with hellbender seasonal activity patterns and time since shelter deployment. We established shelter arrays (n = 30 shelters each) in 6 stream reaches and monitored them monthly for up to 2 yr. We used Bayesian mixed logistic regression and model ranking criteria to assess support for hypotheses concerning drivers of shelter occupancy. In all reaches, shelter occupancy was highest from June–August each year and was higher in Year 2 relative to Year 1. Our best-supported model indicated that the extent of boulder and bedrock (hereafter, natural shelter) in a reach mediated the relationship between hellbender abundance and shelter occupancy. More explicitly, shelter occupancy was positively correlated with abundance when natural shelter covered <20% of a reach, but uncorrelated with abundance when natural shelter was more abundant. While shelter occupancy should not be used to infer variation in hellbender relative abundance when substrate composition varies among reaches, we showed that artificial shelters can function as valuable monitoring tools when reaches meet certain criteria, though regular shelter maintenance is critical.

Improving the Utility of Artificial Shelters for Monitoring Eastern Hellbender Salamanders (Cryptobranchus alleganienses alleganiensis) by Morgan Harris, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 01:31 PM: Artificial shelters show great promise as novel, non-invasive tools for studying hellbenders, but their use thus far has faced several challenges. During initial trials in multiple river networks, artificial shelters routinely became blocked by sediment and dislodged during high stream discharge events, and were rarely used by hellbenders. We sought to determine whether these complications could be overcome via alternative shelter design, placement, and maintenance. Between 2013 and 2018, we deployed 438 artificial shelters of two different designs across ten stream reaches and three rivers in the upper Tennessee River Basin. We assessed evidence for several hypotheses, postulating broadly that the availability, stability, and use of artificial shelters by hellbenders would depend on how shelters were constructed, deployed, and/or maintained. We found that maintaining shelters at least once every 40 days limited sediment blockage, and building ~ 40 kg shelters with 3-4 cm thick walls and recessed lids improved their stability during high discharge events. Additionally, we found that hellbenders most frequently occupied and nested in artificial shelters when they were deployed in deeper (~50+ cm) portions of reaches with high adult hellbender densities. Our results suggest that artificial shelters can serve as effective tools for studying hellbenders when designed, deployed, and maintained with these advancements, but also highlight some limitations of their use.

Learn All About Hellbenders and Take a Tour by Web Editor, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 01:23 PM: Do you know what a hellbender is or where they can be found? This live session will answer those questions for you, show you what they look like by taking you on a virtual tour, share where they live, what they like to eat and who their predators are.

10,000th Hellbender Released Into the Wild by Web Editor, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 01:23 PM: HELLBENDER HISTORY -- the 10,000th hellbender was recently released into an Ozark river in an effort to support a declining population for the endangered species. The Saint Louis Zoo, MDC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have partnered together for nearly 20 years during this effort. Learn more in this short video.

The Last Dragons - Protecting Appalachia's Hellbenders by Web Editor, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 01:22 PM: An intimate glimpse at North America's Eastern Hellbender, an ancient salamander that lives as much in myth as in reality.... and in many waters, myths are all that remain of these sentinel stream-dwellers. Video by Freshwaters Illustrated.

American Black Duck Decision Support Tool by Rhishja Cota, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 12:14 PM: The Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Black Duck Decision Support Tool (DST) helps to identify the exact number of acres to protect, restore or maintain at the small watershed scale. Through this tool, land managers can determine the best way to contribute to achieving black duck goals anywhere on the landscape.

Ducks Unlimited by Web Editor, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 12:02 PM: Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation.

Black Duck Joint Venture by Web Editor, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 12:01 PM: The Black Duck Joint Venture is a North American Waterfowl Management Plan Conservation Partnership

American Black Duck Image by admin, last updated: Jul 26, 2023 11:58 AM: image.jpg

Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture by Matthew Cimitile, last updated: Jul 25, 2023 11:25 AM: The Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV) is one of 18 habitat Joint Venture partnerships in the United States. It is comprised of state and federal government agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and industries that work together to prioritize and coordinate conservation activities while building upon scientific knowledge.

Photo Gallery by Rosanne Hessmiller, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:55 AM

Partners by Web Editor, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:48 AM: (public) (Jess – can you contact each and ask what they want us to post here – or we can just link to their websites if that’s better? Might be nice to explain the role of each here though) Quail Forever NBCI The Center for Native Grassland Management, UT Tall Timbers Jones Center at Ichauway

Livestock as a Potential Biological Control Agent for an Invasive Wetland Plant by Jason Tesauro, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:30 AM

Effects of Habitat Alterations on Bog Turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii): A Comparison of Two Populations by Rhishja Cota, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:29 AM: This study compared Bog Turtle population demography and habitat use from 1994 to 2009 at two sites in Massachusetts, USA: one site was managed for nonnative invasive species and natural succession (Site 1), and the other site was flooded from American Beaver (Castor canadensis) activity resulting in an expansion of nonnative invasive plants (Site 2).

Grazing for Bog Turtle Habitat Management: Case Study of a New York Fen by Rhishja Cota, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:28 AM: This study presents results from a single wetland complex in New York, USA, which we managed primarily with cattle grazing over four and a half growing seasons. Management effectiveness was assessed by monitoring Bog Turtle nest placement, habitat use via radio tracking, and vegetation structure and composition change in permanent plots.

The Effects of Livestock Grazing on the Bog Turtle by Rhishja Cota, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:27 AM: The demise of small-scale dairy farming over the past three decades has led to the pastoral abandonment of the majority of bog turtle habitats in the Northeast. As a consequence, habitats are being degraded by the growth of invasive flora, changes in hydrology, and the loss of turtle microhabitats created by livestock.

NRCS WLFW Outcomes Assessment 2012-2018 (released 2021) by Bridgett Costanzo, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:26 AM: An outcomes assessment report completed under a contract to Dr. JJ Apodaca from NRCS-WLFW. This document is being shared with conservation partners but broad or public sharing is not approved.

Range-wide assessment of grazing and hydrology in bog turtle wetlands by Bridgett Costanzo, last updated: Jul 24, 2023 11:25 AM: In December 2018, a meeting of bog turtle experts was hosted in Richmond, VA and experts across the Eastern range of the species identified as a high priority the need to better understand the benefits and potential negative impacts of livestock grazing in bog turtle inhabited wetlands. Hydrologic conditions in bog turtle wetlands emerged as a secondary concern needing more research. Recently, NRCS’ Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) awarded funds to Dr. Carola Haas leading a team of researchers at Virginia Tech University to conduct an assessment on these two topics (grazing and hydrology).