32 Mark S. Davis and George W. Folkerts 



of the Piedmont, known as the Opelika Plateau, is geologically less 

 complex. The different surface configurations and geological structures 

 in the two plateaus have resulted in some differences in vegetation dis- 

 tribution (Johnson and Sellman 1975, Golden 1968). Mount (pers. 

 comm.) stated that his more recent studies of the herpetofauna of this 

 area indicate that a more distinct transition exists between the Opelika 

 and Ashland Plateaus of the Piedmont than between the latter and the 

 Blue Ridge, if a distinction is to be made. 



The southernmost locality known for R. sylvatica in North Amer- 

 ica lies just south of the Tallapoosa River in Horseshoe Bend National 

 Military Park, Tallapoosa County, Alabama. The site is near the boun- 

 dary of the Ashland and Opelika plateaus in the central Piedmont. The 

 southern boundary of the range of the wood frog in Alabama approxi- 

 mates the southern edge of the Ashland Plateau, although it is likely 

 that many populations are isolates. 



One wood frog has been collected in Calhoun County, Alabama (L. 

 G. Sanford, pers. comm.), at the northern edge of the Blue Ridge, and 

 represents the northernmost record for this species in Alabama. The 

 known range in Alabama thus extends from the northern edge of the 

 Blue Ridge along its contact with the Ridge and Valley province to the 

 southern edge of the Ashland Plateau in the central Piedmont. Scat- 

 tered populations probably occur in suitable habitat in that part of the 

 Ridge and Valley province south of the Coosa Valley. Mount (1975) 

 mentioned that wood frogs might occur in the higher elevations of the 

 Appalachian Plateau in extreme northeastern Alabama (Jackson Coun- 

 ty). If so, they are probably derived from populations that moved 

 southward on the Cumberland Plateau from Tennessee and not from 

 populations in the Blue Ridge. 



Known localities for R. sylvatica in Georgia are limited to five 

 counties in the Blue Ridge of the northeastern part of the state (Wil- 

 liamson and Moulis 1979; C. W. Seyle, pers. comm.) (Fig. 2). No spec- 

 imens have been collected in the 160-km-long area between the Georgia 

 and Alabama wood frog populations, apparently because this area of 

 Georgia has been inadequately surveyed (R. E. Daniel, C. W. Seyle, 

 pers. comms.). Since suitable habitat does occur in this area, we feel 

 that the Alabama wood frog populations are continuous with those in 

 northeastern Georgia (Fig. 2). Based on our knowledge of the habitat 

 requirements of this species in Alabama (and in the southern Appala- 

 chians), the presumed range in the intervening area is thought to be 

 limited to the Blue Ridge (Blue Ridge, Cohuttas, Talladega Upland 

 subdivisions), the southern part of the Great Valley, and the Upland 

 and Gainesville Ridges subdivisions of the northern Piedmont (see 

 Wharton 1978). 



