Field Methods: I will sample salamanders at five locations within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Collections will take place during June 2015. D. quadramaculatus and D. marmoratus will be located by visually searching streams, stream edges, and beneath rocks within streams. All efforts will be made to minimize impact on the habitat. Each salamander found will be hand-captured and placed in a new, clean plastic bag with a small amount of water to keep their skin moist. Salamanders will then be measured with calipers for snout-vent length, tail length, and cranial length and width. An approximately 5 mm piece of tissue will be removed from the tail tip for use in genetic analyses. To minimize handling stress, salamander measurements and tissue collection will take place in the field, adjacent to capture sites, and salamanders will be released at their point of capture immediately afterwards.

Summary of proposed field methods and activities: Sampling Myriapods is a low-impact process. Collecting is done by turning over leaf piles with a millipede rake (see Means et al. 2015) to expose specimens at the soil-leaf interface. Rocks and logs are also rolled over to search for specimens. Leaf litter samples are sometimes taken and processed with a Berlese funnel to extract small-bodied individuals. After an area has been searched, logs and rocks are turned back over and leaves spread out to return the area to its pre-disturbed state. Numbers of Myriapods collected will range from 10-30 specimens, depending on quality of the habitat and success of the search. Both millipedes (Diplopoda) and centipedes (Chilopoda) will be collected, to contribute to related research on species groups by the Marek Lab. In the case of leaf litter samples, other incidental leaf litter arthropods including insects and spiders are collected as well, but not in numbers large enough to cause strains on the local populations.

Summary of proposed field methods and activities: Sampling Myriapods is a low-impact process. Collecting is done by turning over leaf piles with a millipede rake (see Means et al. 2015) to expose specimens at the soil-leaf interface. Rocks and logs are also rolled over to search for specimens. Leaf litter samples are sometimes taken and processed with a Berlese funnel to extract small-bodied individuals. After an area has been searched, logs and rocks are turned back over and leaves spread out to return the area to its pre-disturbed state. Numbers of Myriapods collected will range from 10-30 specimens, depending on quality of the habitat and success of the search. Both millipedes (Diplopoda) and centipedes (Chilopoda) will be collected, to contribute to related research on species groups by the Marek Lab. In the case of leaf litter samples, other incidental leaf litter arthropods including insects and spiders are collected as well, but not in numbers large enough to cause strains on the local populations.

PI collected water quality samples from amphibian breeding sites at Gourley Pond, Finley Cane Sinks, the Sinks, and Gum Swamp to assist an amphibian monitoring initiative (GRSM-00105). The geological and cultural features and histories associated with each site are also described. April samples show that the waters have low pH (3.9-6.2), low specific conductance, and variable dissolved oxygen concentrations. Aluminum and iron levels were somewhat elevated, except at Gourley Pond, which gets much of its water from stream overflow. Only traces of mercury were present in the water samples. August samples were taken from the only two ponds with water at that time (Finley Cane #2 and the Sinks) but the results of their analysis is missing from the annual report.

Amphibian survey for Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, 2002-2003 Our primary goal was to meet the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring program goal to better assess the status of amphibian species listed as “expected” in the parks and to verify the occurrence of 90% of these species. Our primary goal for EBLA was to search for the presence of expected amphibian species: Ensatina; western red-backed salamander; northern red-legged frog; Oregon spotted frog; American bullfrog; Pacific treefrog; western toad; northwestern salamander; long-toed salamander; and rough-skinned newt. Inventories of reptiles were not targeted during this project; however they were documented when encountered. Nineteen aquatic and 15 terrestrial surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2003. A total area of 75,286 m2 was searched in 4,013 minutes, over 14 days. During the surveys, for each species encountered, information on species life stage and habitat, was documented. Species names have been verified and updated as needed based on Crother (2008). Species absence is extremely difficult to determine and it is possible that some species recorded historically or occasionally but not detected during our survey efforts may still be present in the park. Additional surveys of targeted habitats and species should be conducted. This project at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (FOVA) and the greater Vancouver National Historic Reserve was part of a larger effort to document species presence at five North Coast and Cascades Network parks: Mount Rainier National Park, Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA), Lewis and Clark National Historical Site (LEWI, formerly FOCL), FOVA, and San Juan Island National Historical Park (SAJH). Four parks (EBLA, FOCL, FOVA, and SAJH) had incomplete amphibian lists based on limited or undocumented data.