Calibrating the data logger…
Reptile fauna of the intermountain west are historically understudied and yet represent important components of desert ecosystems. The Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) developed an inventory needs list in 2007 identifying amphibians and reptiles as high priority; this need was reaffirmed as a high priority in 2017 as a component of Inventories 2.0 scoping. Because NCPN parks are managed for multiple use (e.g., grazing as well as human visitation and recreation), lack of good data associated with herpetofauna could place local populations at risk. Key pieces of information such as species presence and distribution data are required for risk management decisions and to enhance management of these taxa. Black Canyon of the Gunnison (BLCA) was not included in earlier herpetofauna inventory efforts by the NCPN but was specifically identified as a priority for further reptile inventory assessment (Platenberg and Graham 2003). Absence of good herpetofauna species presence and distribution data has also been identified as potential data gaps that might hinder progress of future grazing allotment management planning at BLCA. Work reported here was supported by the Inventory & Monitoring group and provides critical data for BLCA. We used a combination of standardized herpetological inventory tools as well as quasi-randomized habitat-based sampling to assess reptile presence (Robertson et al. 2017) at BLCA. As recommended in previous herpetofauna inventories we used the presence of water features and other unique habitat elements to maximize the effectiveness of surveys. We identified the presence of four reptile species at target sites during a single field season in 2025. Species presence data from our study suggest that even common species of reptiles have a somewhat patchy distribution at BLCA.
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