For State Wildlife Action Plans

Reptiles and Amphibians

Reptiles

Fourteen species of turtles are included on the RSGCN list, including four species that have both high regional responsibility and high or very high regional concern. One of these highest-priority species is the bog turtle, a small species associate with calcareous wetlands in the Northeast. The bog turtle is currently protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and has been the subject of several collaborative conservation initiatives, including efforts led by the USFWS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service. The diamondback terrapin, a symbol of the state of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, is also ranked as high responsibility and high regional concern. Two other species of very high concern, the Blanding’s Turtle and the Wood Turtle, have been the subject of recent regional conservation efforts sponsored by the RCN Grant Program and the Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) in response to evidence of recent population declines. See Appendix 1 and Terwilliger Consulting Inc. and NEFWDTC 2013 and the following websites (http://www.northeastparc.org/workinggroups/blandings.htm and http://www.northeastparc.org/workinggroups/woodturtle.htm and http://rcngrants.org/content/wood-turtle-glyptemys-insculpta-northeastern-united-states-status-assessment-and ) for links to these projects.

Five species of marine sea turtles are included on the RSGCN list (the loggerhead, green turtle, leatherback, Atlantic hawksbill, and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle), all of which are protected under the U. S. Endangered Species Act. Because of their broad distributions but significant range-wide declines, these species are considered to be low regional responsibility but of very high conservation concern.

Thirteen species of snakes are included on the RSGCN list, of which one (the Northern black racer) is both high regional responsibility as well as high regional concern. The RSGCN list includes both of the region’s venomous species, the copperhead and the timber rattlesnake. The discovery of skin lesions on timber rattlesnakes at sites near Boston and elsewhere in the northern part of the species’ range created considerable concern for the long-term viability of this iconic regional species. However, a project funded through the RCN Grant Program suggests that, because snakes with fungal lesions show no other signs of health impairment and fewer lesions were observed in the fall than in the spring, snakes may be recovering from fungal dermatitis over the summer. With funding from the RCN Grant Program, researchers sampled 98 snakes in 9 populations and found a wide range of dermatitis prevalence from 0-53% and averaging 33% (McBride et al. 2015). 75% of fungal lesions were attributed to Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, which has been implicated by other researchers as a possible cause of dermatitis in snakes. Interestingly, dermatitis was more prevalent in the spring (53%) than in the fall (17%). Infected snakes were otherwise healthy based on analysis of blood samples and many biologists believe snakes are recovering from dermatitis over the warm summer months. In general, the report finds that dermatitis is unlikely to be a serious concern in timber rattlesnake populations in the northeast. (see Appendix 1 and Terwilliger Consulting Inc. and NEFWDTC 2013 and http://rcngrants.org/content/assessment-and-evaluation-prevalence-fungal-dermatitis-new-england-timber-rattlesnake for additional information).

The RSGCN list includes just two lizards, both skinks in the genus Plestiodon. The Northern coal skink is considered a high regional responsibility, very high concern species, while the broad-headed skink is considered a low regional responsibility, high conservation concern species.

Amphibians

The RSGCN list includes five species of frogs and to toads, one of which (the New Jersey chorus frog) is both high regional responsibility and high regional concern. Frog populations in the United States and elsewhere have experienced declines as a result of the introduction of exotic diseases such as chytridiomycosis and ranavirus, for which there appears to be relatively little immunity among native amphibian populations.

The Appalachian Mountains are a well known center of endemism for salamander taxa, including many narrowly endemic and rare species such as the Cheat Mountain, Shenandoah, and Peaks of Otter salamanders. Ten species of salamanders on the RSGCN list are in the genus Plethodon, which contains many of the most narrowly endemic, range-restricted taxa. The RSGCN list also includes four species of the genus Ambystoma, the mole salamanders.

The hellbender, a very large aquatic salamander associated with major rivers in the eastern United States, has been identified as a high-priority species for the RCN grant program. Populations of hellbenders have declined precipitously due to water pollution, sedimentation, and the damming and channelization of major rivers throughout the eastern United States. In addition, chytrid fungi have been responsible for reducing captive populations and are thought to be causing additional declines in wild populations of the species. The Ozark subspecies of the hellbender was added to the federal Endangered Species list in 2011 and a similar listing for the eastern subspecies is being contemplated. Conserving the hellbender will require integrated conservation action on the part of state, federal, and private conservation agencies, exactly the sort of partnership that could be supported and fostered through the RCN Grant Program.