Biology at SBC
SPOTTED SALAMANDER BIG NIGHT, 4 MARCH 2008 |
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Following
up on the success of our 2007
salamander survey, students in BIOL 224 (General
Ecology) and BIOL 218 (Field Natural History) censused
adult spotted salamanders (Ambystoma
maculatum) as they came to breed in Guion
Pond.
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photographs were taken by Linda Fink.
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Sara Rothamel taught other
students how to use VIE (visible implant elastomer) to mark
salamanders |
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Practicing on gelatin |
Practicing on a preserved
salamander |
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Salamanders were collected
at drift fences and brought to tents near the pond to be
weighed and marked with VIE. |
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Salamanders caught near the
pond or upper lake were released into the water, and males
immediately produced spermatophores. |
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TOTAL
= 636 SPOTTED SALAMANDERS
captured, sexed and weighed in one night! |
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Sara Rothamel is now tagging
egg masses with VIE to measure their
survival rate. |
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2008 salamander census was supervised by Professor
Linda Fink, Naturalist-in-Residence Mike Hayslett,
and Biology major Sara Rothamel, under a permit granted
by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Work
was carried out by students in BIOL 218 (K. Bryan,
M. Combs, L. Davis, S. Evans, M. MacIntire, W. Mills,
A. Overman, H. Phillips, A. Rij, A. Robinson, L. Schwartz,
N. Stapp, M.R. Taylor, J. Waitt) and BIOL 224 (A. Bailey,
A. Baker, S. Bieser, S. Cappello, M. Degnin, S. Evans,
E. Franklin, J. Johnson, K. Mauri, R. Rich, H. Riggleman,
M.R. Taylor, J. Waitt, G. Wilson, E. Wittle), plus
Professors Rob Alexander, Janet Steven and Dan Gottlieb,
and students K. Wieditz, H. Bradshaw, N. Pham, M. Maloney
and L. Hankinson. |
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