IMPORTANCE TO HUMANITY 



People use small numbers of bullfrogs and snapping turtles as food. Some 

 smaller species of frogs (pickerel, leopard, and green) are used as fish bait. 



Amphibians could serve as indicators of environmental contamination. Their 

 moist skins may hold concentrations of toxic chemicals and other environmental 

 pollutants trapped during respiration (Porter 1972) . No data are available on 

 this subject, however. 



MANAGEMENT 



The integrity of freshwater aquatic and terrestrial habitats important to 

 reptiles and amphibians needs to be maintained in coastal Maine. No laws 

 exist at present governing the collecting or possession of herptiles in the 

 State of Maine (personal communication from B. Burgason, Maine Department of 

 Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Bingham, ME; March, 1979). Such laws may be 

 necessary for the preservation of these animals if the magnitude of collecting 

 increases . 



RESEARCH NEEDS 



Very little information is available on reptiles and amphibians along the 

 coast of Maine. The only available distributional information that is 

 specific to coastal Maine is local. Some data on food habits of the snapping 

 turtle (Coulter 1957, 1958, and 1968) are available. 



Population studies of herptiles in coastal Maine are needed to provide 

 information on the role of herptiles within ecosystems. Information is needed 

 on the impact of pesticides on herptiles. Further research is needed to 

 determine if sphagnum-peat bogs are the preferred habitat of the four-toed 

 salamander, as suggested by Bleakney (1953) and Burgason and Davis (1978). If 

 so, the effects of peat mining on this rare species will need to be 

 determined. Studies also need to be conducted to determine the effects of 

 regular burning of blueberry barrens on the abundance of reptiles and 

 amphibians . 



18-9 



10-80 



