Science of Scales

I wrote last year about our work surveying for Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtles (Machrochelys suwanniensis) in Georgia as part of a range-wide assessment of the species’ distribution and status. Since that time, there have been several exciting developments in our work with alligator snapping turtles.

Properly managed longleaf pine flatwoods are a rare sight in the 21st century – Brandon Rincon Reticulated and Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders (Ambystoma bishopi, A. cingulatum) are two of the rarest salamanders in the United States, having experienced severe population declines and range contractions. These declines have occurred even within protected landscapes and have left both […]

Some of the first questions that emerge when a new wildlife disease is documented surround where the disease originated and how long has it been impacting wildlife populations. Is the disease emerging or has it been around for decades? Perhaps something else in the environment is just now making the disease bad enough that it is noticeable to biologists.

Eastern Indigo Snake – Ben Stegenga One of the key concepts in conservation biology is landscape connectivity. In other words, how easy is it for animals to move between discrete habitat patches and what are the features that either impede or facilitate movement? Connectivity is often thought about in terms of linking protected areas in […]

County record Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) from Telfair Co., Georgia – Houston Chandler Open any field guide or book with species accounts and you are likely to see some type of range map that broadly delineates the geographic distribution of a species. While a seemingly basic concept, identifying species ranges is often challenging, and […]