The experience has officially ended and all would agree that it was a success. We established and tested protocols for snake research and plant phenology studies at Caño Palma. We were an essential part of beach patrols every morning and evening from July 8th until August 16th. We established a protocol and collected data on the distribution of caimans along Caño Palma. Most importantly we discovered what we were capable of. [read more] |
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Students from Fleming College's Ecosystem Management Program travel to Costa Rica on April 11th. They will participate with a variety of research projects including marine turtle research. Watch this video documenting the 2011 team's first morning on the baech. Keep up to date with our activities by following the blogs link.
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Amphibians are excellent indicators of ecosystem health. They are sensitive to pollutants and disturbance due to the extremely permeable nature of their skin. Furthermore, amphibians are associated with water. The quality of Ontario’s aquatic and semi-aquatic ecosystems is of concern. Amphibian monitoring is a key aspect of ecological assessment of wetlands, marshes, swamps, ponds, rivers and lakes. Furthermore, many amphibian species are an integral part of woodland ecosystems throughout the province of Ontario. For example, the biomass of red-backed salamanders in a typical mixed deciduous forest in Ontario exceeds that of the entire bird population during peak breeding season in that same forest. 
Amphibians and reptiles represent a significant proportion of Ontario's protected species. On a global scale, their status and conservation is a high priority. Their sensitivity to disturbance, specialized ecological needs, and diverse ecological roles make them excellent candidates for monitoring ecosystem health. However, the monitoring programs currently in place may be improved greatly through slight changes in protocol. 
Last fall, we officially started data collection for our skink distribution, population, and habitat study. Although we started late in the season, we encountered 54 skinks at 10 different study sites. A total of 50 of them were captured, measured, and weighed. Of these, 34 were large enough to be tagged with a tiny (1.1 mm x 0.25 mm) wire tag. This tag allows us to distinguish between lizards that were captured previously from newly captured speciments which provides us with the data needed to estimate population size. In large populations, the proportion of tagged lizards to untagged lizards will be small resulting in few lizards being recaptured when the site is revisted. 
Reptiles are typically shy, inconspicuous animals that few people take notice of. As such, declining populations have gone unnoticed by the majority of people involved in conservation in Ontario. The last ten years has seen a significant shift in focus with reptiles being brought to the forefront. In 1991, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada listed only four reptile species native to Ontario. As of 2010, one species, the Timber Rattlesnake, is extirpated and 21 are listed as of special concern, protected, threatened or endangered. (COSEWIC, 2009; Endangered Species Act, 2007; Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 2007; Oldham, 2003) 
