Records Needed for Maine Amphibians and Reptiles Book Update

Maine Amphibians and Reptiles, the second edition of which was published in 1999, is currently being revised with publication planned for early 2024. The foundation of the book is the township distribution data from the Maine Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Project (MARAP). Although MARAP is an ongoing effort, this new third edition of Maine Amphibians and Reptiles will include distribution maps incorporating records obtained through the 2023 field season. Thus, we are hoping to fill in as many gaps in the distribution maps as possible by the summer of 2023. Of particular importance is adding records near the edges of the ranges for species that only occur in parts of Maine (e.g., Mink Frog, Eastern Milksnake) in order to better define those species’ distributional limits in the state. We also hope to add township records of widespread species (e.g., Eastern Red-backed Salamander) in poorly surveyed regions of the state, such as northwestern Maine or interior Washington County, so that the distribution maps in the book accurately reflect those species’ actual distributions.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) recently updated the amphibian and reptile information available on their Web site, including the addition of individual species pages for all non-marine species (i.e., sea turtles are currently excluded). In addition to photos and basic identification and natural history information, each species page includes a link (under the “Share Your Sighting” section near the bottom of each page) to a PDF of that species’ current MARAP township distribution map. These species pages can be found at:

https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/wildlife/species-information/reptiles-amphibians/index.html

We encourage people to consult these maps and submit observations to iNaturalist for any new township records for any species, particularly those near the edges of ranges or that fill in significant distribution gaps. The current maps include many older sight reports that aren’t supported by photographs or specimens. For the current effort we hope to “upgrade” as many of those as possible to photo-vouchered records, and documenting species in these townships is equally as valuable as documenting them in townships with no records of any kind. For example, northern Maine has many reports of chorusing Spring Peepers but few records supported by photographs, thus a valuable contribution could be made by finding and photographing this species almost anywhere in that region.

For questions, please message me through iNaturalist or email either myself (trevor.persons@nau.edu) or MDIFW herpetologist Derek Yorks (derek.yorks@maine.gov).

Posted on August 24, 2021 12:32 AM by trevorpersons