Inventory and Monitoring Activities: St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge

Background

       St Vincent NWR (SVNWR) is barrier island located at the mouth of the Apalachicola River in Franklin Co., Florida. Primary habitat types on SVNWR include ridge and swale topography with coastal pine scrub uplands and pine flatwood wetlands, and estuarine salt marsh. The island has a rich history of human habitation and was logged and used as an exotic game hunting reserve and cattle ranch in the early 1900s. SVNWR was established in 1968. Current access to the island is by boat only, and the island is one of the few reintroduction sites for red wolves.  Extensive amphibian and reptile inventory data for this island has been collected by Joe Collins and associates and voucher specimens from this survey work are deposited in the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, Kansas (Irwin et al., 2003).  A total of 12 species of amphibians and 47 species of reptiles have been previously documented from St Vincent NWR.  St Vincent Island presents a unique opportunity for biogeographical studies because it was never connected to the mainland of Florida, rather it arose due to deposition of sand at the mouth of the Apalachicola River.  Thus all freshwater fishes and terrestrial vertebrates reached the island via dispersal from the mainland. Among amphibians, it appears that anurans have been more successful at colonizing this island than caudates, as there are eleven species of frogs and only one species of salamander documented thus far. The lack of salamander predators (Ambystomatidae and Salamandridae) typical of ephemeral pond communities on the mainland may influence anuran community structure.

Effort in 2005

 ARMI made one visit to St Vincent NWR from 16-18 Aug 2005.

Results

       We sampled a total of nine wetlands at SVNWR and documented five species of anurans (Hyla cinerea, H. femoralis, H. squirella, Rana grylio, R. sphenocephala), one caudate species (Amphiuma means), seven fish species (Gambusia holbrooki, Heterandria formosa, Poecilia latippina, Fundulus chrysotus, Lucania goodei, Lepomis gulosus, Elassoma sp.), and seven reptile species (Apalone ferox, Kinosternon subrubrum, Coluber constrictor, Sistrurus miliarus, Thamnophis sauritus, Anolis carolinensis, Cnemidophorus sexlineatus)

Future Plans

       ARMI hopes to continue to perform inventory and monitoring of amphibians at St Vincent NWR as time and resources permit.

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