A warm welcome to the drift fences of SRS

Since arriving to a warm welcome at the SREL two weeks ago I have been given the opportunity to observe and participate in a number of different studies. One of the most anticipated of which was my first collection and release of marbled salamanders at Rainbow Bay (see photo to the right). Distinguishing between marked and unmarked salamanders is still a developing skill but I am becoming more familiar with the appearance of regrowth toes and what each mark means. As fall migrations continue, we have also pulled some leopard frogs, a garter snake, a bull frog, and numerous tadpoles in from the drift fence and minnow traps at the H-O2 wetlands.

My past research has taken me all over the country and the world yet I have never had the possibility of catching such diversity at one drift fence. A previous drift fence experience of mine did allow for encounters with another great amphibian though, the Siberian Salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii) - The only salamander to brave the weather in the Amur region of Russia, it has a tolerance of -30-45⁰C and has been found 3-14m deep in permafrost, only to “wake up” and walk away once warm. Few studies have been conducted in this region of Russia and, in an effort to establish species diversity and relative abundance records for the region, we built drift fences along an Amur River basin wetland complex. Our hope is that, with this baseline information, we can start creating more robust studies in the region to learn more about the incredibly resilient Siberian Salamanders as well as many of its neighbors.

As fall ramps up here in South Carolina I look forward to seeing what will come in on the drift
fence.