Our Livini^ Resource.': — Reptiles and Ainpliilmms 



129 



Mines, T.C. 1474. The past and presenl status of the 

 American alligator in Florida. Proceedings of the Annual 

 Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and 

 Wildlife Agencies 33:224-232. 



Mines. T.C and A.R. Woodward. 1980. Nuisance alligator 

 control in Flonda. Wildlife Society Bull. 8:234-241. 



Jennings. M.L.. M.F Percival, and A.R. Woodward. 1988. 

 Evaluation of alligator hatchling and egg removal from 

 three Florida lakes. Proceedings of the Annual 

 Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and 

 Wildlife Agencies 42:283-294. 



Jennings. M.L.. A.R. Woodward, and D.N. David. 1989. 

 Florida's nuisance alligator control program. Pages 29- 

 36 in S.R. Craven, ed. Proceedings of the Fourth Eastern 

 Wildlife Damage Control Conference. Madison. WI. 



Murphy. T.M. 1977. Distribution, movement, and popula- 

 tion dynamics of the American alligator in a thermally 

 altered reservoir. M.S. thesis. University of Georgia. 

 Athens. 64 pp. 



Neal. W. 1985. Endangered and threatened wildlife and 

 plant.s; reclassification of the American alligator in 

 Florida to threatened due to similarity of appearance. 

 Federal Register 50( 1 19 1:25.672-25,678. 



Wiley. E.N.. and M.L. Jennings. 1990. An overview of alli- 

 gator management in Florida. Pages 274-285 in 



Proceedings of the Tenth Working Meeting Crocodile 

 Specialist Group. lUCN The Worid Conservation Union. 

 Gland. Switzerland. 



Wood. J.M.. A.R. Woodward. S.R. Mumphrey. and T.C. 

 Mines. 1985. Night counts as an index of American alli- 

 gator population trends. Wildlife Societv Bull. 13:262- 

 273. 



Woodward, A.R., and SB. Linda. 1993. Alligator popula- 

 tion estimation. Final Report, Florida Game and Fresh 

 Water Fish Commission, Tallahassee. 36 pp. 



Woodward, A.R., and W.R. Manon. 1978. An evaluation of 

 night-light counts of alligators. Proceedings of the 

 Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of 

 Fish and Wildlife Agencies 32:291-.302. 



Woodward, A.R., and C.T. Moore. 1990. Statewide alligator 

 surveys. Final Report, Flonda Game and Fresh Water 

 Fish Commission, Tallahassee. 24 pp. 



Woodward, A.R., C.T. Moore, and M.F Delany. 1992. 

 Experimental alligator harvest. Final Report, Florida 

 Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. Tallahassee. 

 118 pp. 



Woodward. A.R.. M.F. Percival. M.L. Jennings, and C.T. 

 Moore. 1993. Low clutch viability of American alligators 

 on Lake Apopka. Florida Scientist 56:52-63. 



For further information: 



Allan R. Woodward 



Florida Game and Fresh Water 



Fish Commission 



4005 S. Main St. 



Gainesville, FL 32601 



The Coastal Plain of the southeastern United 

 States contains a rich diversity of reptiles 

 and amphibians (herpetofaiina). Of the 290 

 species native to the Southeast. 1 70 ( 74 amphib- 

 ians, 96 reptiles) are found within the range of 

 the remnant longleaf pine ( Finns pahislris) 

 ecosystem (Fig. 1 ). Many of these species are 

 not found elsewhere, particularly those amphib- 

 ians that require temporary ponds for reproduc- 

 tion. Many Coastal Plain species are listed fed- 

 erally or by states as endangered or threatened 

 or are candidates for listing (Fig. 1 ). Examples 

 include the flatwoods salamander {Ambystoma 

 cingulatum), striped newt (Notophthabniis per- 

 striatus), Carolina and dusky gopher frogs 

 (Rana capita capita and R.c. sevosa). eastern 

 indigo snake {Drymarchan corais couperi). 

 gopher tortoise (Gophenis polyphemus), eastern 

 diamondback rattlesnake (Cratahis adaman- 

 teiis). and Florida pine snake (Pitiiophis 

 melanoleucus mngitus). 



Studies in the Southeast 



Information on the status and trends of the 

 Coastal Plain herpetofauna comes from limited 

 studies of selected species or populations, most- 

 ly within the last decade. The only intensive 

 long-term quantitative and community-based 

 studies have been at the Savannah River Site on 

 the upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Most 

 other studies have been distributional surveys 

 for species such as Red Hills salamanders 

 (Phaeognathns luibhchti). gopher frogs, striped 

 newts, flatwoods salamanders, gopher tortoises, 

 and Florida scrub lizards (Sceloponis woodi). 

 Few studies have reported detailed habitat 



requirements for suspected declining species 

 throughout their range. Surveys generally range 

 1-2 years in duration. Other trend information is 

 derived from studies conducted by university 

 scientists, private organizations, or state 

 resource agencies. Concern for the future of the 

 entire herpetofaunal community in the 

 Southeast rests mostly on the well-documented 

 loss of the old-growth longleaf pine ecosystem, 

 although few community-based heipetofaunal 

 surveys have been undertaken in this habitat. 



Status 



The tire-adapted longleaf pine community 

 once stretched from southeastern Virginia to 

 eastern Texas (Fig. 2). At present, less than 14% 

 of the historical 282,283 km- (70 million acres) 

 longleaf pine forest remains (Means and Grow 

 1985; Noss 1989), and most of it is on private 

 land. Less than 1% is old-growth forest. 

 Conversion of longleaf pine forests for agricul- 

 ture, timber plantations, and urban needs (Ware 

 et al. 1993) is accelerating (Fig. 3) and probably 

 threatens the continued existence of many 

 amphibian and reptile species, particularly in 

 southern Georgia and Florida. For example, 

 longleaf pine forests in Florida declined from 

 30,756 km- (7.6 million acres) in 1936 to only 

 3,845 km- (0.95 million acres) in 1989, an 88% 

 decrease (Cerulean 1991). In southeastern 

 Georgia the longleaf pine forest declined 36% 

 (to 931 km- [230,000 acres]) between 1981 and 

 1988 (Johnson 1988). Most of this conversion 

 has been from second- or third-growth longleaf 

 pine stands to slash or loblolly pine plantation 

 forestry. 



Reptiles and 

 Amphibians in 

 the 



Endangered 

 Longleaf Pine 

 Ecosystem 



by 



C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. 

 National Biological Service 



