Description
Book SynopsisThe definitive resource for finding, identifying, and conserving Maryland's amphibians and reptiles. Naturalists, herpetologists, and ecologists alike agree that tracking herpetofauna is a challenging undertaking. Scientists are concerned about the decline of once-familiar species, but evidence has often been too anecdotal to support firm conclusions. To better understand the distribution of amphibians and reptiles in Maryland and forecast species' futures in a time of accelerated environmental threats, conducting a comprehensive statewide survey updating 1970s-era distribution maps seemed ideal. However, this endeavor was of an impossibly ambitious scope for scientists alone to tackle. Enter the Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas project, comprising nearly a thousand dedicated citizen scientists who discovered and recorded the locations of herpetofauna throughout every corner of Maryland. In The Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas, Heather R. Cunningham and Nathan H. Nazdrowicz p
Trade ReviewA meticulously detailed guide, with lush color photos.
—
Chesapeake Bay MagazineTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Part I. Introduction
Overview of Amphibians and Reptiles in Maryland
The Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Project
Citizen Science and Herpetological Research
Goals of the Atlas
Organization of the Atlas
Part II. History of Herpetofaunal Distributions in Maryland. Charles A. Davis
Discovery
Collections and Descriptions
Organizing for Discovery and the Early Amphibian and Reptile Collections
Limitations and Challenges of Assessing Historical Ranges: Where Were the Rattlesnakes?
Early Geographic Lists
More Efforts to Organize
Efforts to Update the Distributional Survey
Challenges and Practices for Gathering Distributional Data
Additional Institutional Efforts That Document Amphibian and Reptile Distributions
Rare Species Surveys
Increasing Access to Herpetofaunal Information
Part III. Maryland's Environment
Physiographic Provinces
Habitat Types
Climate
Land Use
Part VI. Conservation of Maryland's Herpetofauna. Lynn M. Davidson and Glenn D. Therres
Legislation, Regulation, and Monitoring Programs
Protected Lands
Part V. Designing and Implementing the Atlas Project
Coordination
Survey Methodology
The Volunteer Network
Data Collection
Data Management
Part VI. Results of the Atlas Project
Overall Results
County-Level Results
Volunteer Results
Data Verification
Taxonomic Results
Part VII. Species Accounts
Amphibians
Reptiles
Appendixes
A. Quadrangle and Block Total Species Summary
B. Quadrangle and Block Effort-Hours Summary
C. County Summary
D. Species Summary
References
Index
