HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE OH FA TB SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES HIT EA ST Technical Publication HMG-5 O M U A T N H A W G EE SM T EE RN NT U G NU I ID T EE DL I SN TE AS T F EO SR A M P H I B I A N S A N D R E P T I L E S T e c h n ic a l P u b lic a tio n H M G -5 PARTNERS IN AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES TECHNICAL PUBLICATION HMG-5 PURPOSE AND INTENDED USE OF THIS DOCUMENT The goal of the Habitat Management Guidelines for lines are suggestions made and reviewed by groups Amphibians and Reptiles of the Southwestern United of professionally trained herpetologists and wildlife States (Southwest HMG) is to provide private land- biologists from private, state, and federal organiza- owners, state and federal land agencies, wildlife man- tions. Some of the guidelines presented here may not agement agencies, and other interested stakehold- apply to every species in every situation due to the ers (collectively termed “resource managers”) with taxonomic and ecological diversity of amphibians and regional information on the habitat associations and reptiles in the southwestern U.S. The authors and edi- requirements of amphibians and reptiles. This is done tors of the HMGs suggest consulting a local herpetolo- by listing possible threats to the animals and their habi- gist before making significant land-use changes when tats and providing guidelines to manage lands to be implementing the suggested guidelines to ensure compatible with or beneficial to amphibian and reptile local issues and species are adequately addressed. conservation goals. These HMGs developed by Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) are not legally binding Many amphibian and reptile populations in the United or regulatory, and they do not in any way attempt to States and its neighboring countries are vulnerable to limit landowner rights. They are suggested actions for the effects of habitat loss and degradation. A significant landowners and managers who are considering the challenge is to ensure the persistence of amphibians needs of amphibians and reptiles in the course of their and reptiles through thoughtful management of private land and resource management activities. References and public lands and the resources they contain. When and specific sources of regional HMGs can be found applied on the ground as general management prin- at www.parcplace.org. ciples, the Southwest HMG will promote conservation of amphibians and reptiles and their habitats by: Additional copies may be obtained through PARC. Visit • Keeping common amphibian and reptile species the PARC website for more information about placing common orders. Donations to PARC help defray the costs of • Reducing the further decline of imperiled species development, printing, postage, and handling, and can • Maintaining existing habitats be made by check, credit card, or money order. • Guiding restoration of degraded habitats ISBN X-XXXXXXX-XXXX-X-X. © 2016. Partners in Landowners and other resource managers will benefit Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. Printed in the from using this document because implementation of United States of America. the guidelines will provide ecological benefits beyond amphibian and reptile conservation. Even if only some Suggested Citation: Jones, L.L.C., K.J. Halama, of these guidelines are implemented, the cumulative and R.E. Lovich (editors). Habitat Management effect will likely be positive. Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Southwestern United States. Partners in Amphib- The general information and specific management ian and Reptile Conservation, Technical Publication guidelines presented here are based on the best HMG-5, Birmingham, AL. XXX pp. available science, peer-reviewed expert opinions, and published literature from dozens of experts. The “Maxi- mizing Compatibility” and “Ideal” management guide- HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES i AUTHORS The Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Southwestern United States is the result of contributions from the following persons: EDITORS/AUTHORS Mark Fisher Erin Muths Lawrence L. C. Jones Senior Scientist Zoologist Southwest Zoologists’ League Deep Canyon Desert Research Center U.S. Geological Survey Tucson, Arizona Natural Reserve System, University of Fort Collins Science Center, California, Riverside Colorado Kenneth J. Halama Director, Motte Rimrock Reserve and Robert Fisher Priya Nanjappa Emerson Oaks Reserve Supervisory Research Biologist [assuming Appendix G] University of California Natural U.S. Geological Survey Reserve System Western Ecological Research Center Esther Nelson Department of Biology San Diego, California Wildlife Biologist University of California, Riverside USDA Forest Service Matt Goode Pecos, New Mexico Robert E. Lovich Research Specialist San Diego, California School of Natural Resources and Joshua M. Parker Environment Instructor CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS University of Arizona, Tucson Fresno City College, California Jim Asmus Wildlife Biologist David Grandmaison Mickey Ray Parker Resource Enforcement and Wildlife Biologist Wildlife Biologist Compliance Section Superior National Forest School of Natural Resources and MCI-West Environmental Security Duluth, Minnesota Environment Camp Pendleton, California University of Arizona, Tucson Bryan T. Hamilton Brian Aucone Wildlife Biologist Gad Perry Senior Vice President for Animal Care 100 Great Basin National Park Professor and Conservation Baker, Nevada Natural Resources Management Denver Zoo, Colorado Texas Tech University, Lubbock Mike Lannoo Cameron Barrows Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology David S. Pilliod Research Ecologist Indiana University School of Medicine, Research Ecologist Center for Conservation Biology Terre Haute U.S. Geological Survey University of California, Riverside Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Jeffrey Lovich Science Center Steve Beaupre Research Ecologist Boise, Idaho Professor U.S. Geological Survey Department of Biological Sciences Southwest Biological Science Center Raymond Semlitsch University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Flagstaff, Arizona Professor Division of Biological Sciences Richard Bireley Kim Lovich University of Missouri, Columbia Senior Environmental Research Curator Herpetology and Ichthyology Scientist San Diego Zoo Global, Stephen F. Spear California Department of Pesticide California Associate Conservation Scientist Regulation The Orianne Society Sacramento, California Clark R. Mahrdt Athens, Georgia Wildlife Biologist Polly Conrad San Diego Natural History Museum, Drew Stokes Wildlife Biologist California Field Biologist Wildlife Diversity Division San Diego Natural History Museum, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Las Danny Martin California Vegas Great Plains Reptile Monitoring Project Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Brian Sullivan Robert Cox Colorado State University, Fort Collins Professor Associate Professor School of Mathematical and Natural Department of Natural Resources Steve Morey Sciences Management Biologist Arizona State University, Tempe Texas Tech University, Lubbock U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Portland, Oregon Michael D. Wilcox Joshua R. Ennen Senior Biologist/Ecologist Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Institute Infrastructure. Chattanooga, Tennessee Riverside, California Jen Williams [assuming Appendix G] ii WWW.PARCPLACE.ORG HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES n arti M y n n a D The Long-nosed Leopard Lizard is found in all four deserts of the Southwest HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES iii s e n o J C. L. e c n e wr a L Most of the Southwest is typified by an arid, hot climate, but not without exception. Despite these seemingly harsh conditions, reptiles—and even amphibians— reach their highest diversity in the Southwest. The Tiger Rattlesnake (inset) is an example of a species that finds its home in the arid Southwest. s e n o J C. L. e c n e wr a L Even areas that are dry most of the year, such as the Willcox Playa in the northwestern Chihuahuan Desert, will become breeding habitat for a number of arid- adapted amphibian species, including this Chihuahuan Green Toad (inset). This species becomes surface active and breeds in temporary ponds created during summer rains. iv WWW.PARCPLACE.ORG TABLE OF CONTENTS Purpose and Intended Use of this Document ........... Deciduous Forests ............................................... Preface ....................................................................... Evergreen Forests ................................................ Introduction ................................................................ Alpine and Subalpine ........................................... How to Use these Guidelines .............................. Rock Features ...................................................... Developing a Management Plan .......................... Caves, Karst, and Underground Mines ............... Reptiles and Amphibians of the Southwest ........ Canyons ............................................................... Natural History of Amphibians and Reptiles ....... Intermittent Streams and Ephemeral Ponds ....... Ecoregional Context of the Southwest ................ Rivers and Perennial Streams ............................. Habitats Important to Amphibians....................... Lakes, Ponds, and Reservoirs ............................. and Reptiles in the Southwest Small Water-retention Structures ........................ Management Guidelines for Conservation Cienegas, Bogs, Wet Meadows, Challenges .................................................................. and Swamps ........................................................ Habitat Conversion .............................................. Springs and Seeps .............................................. Dirt Roads and Trails ........................................... Marine and Estuary .............................................. Major Roads and Highways ................................ Agricultural Lands ................................................ Surface and Groundwater Use ............................ Urban and Suburban Areas ................................. Herbicides, Insecticides, Piscicides, Golf Courses ........................................................ and other Pesticides ............................................ Appendices Livestock Grazing ................................................ A. Amphibian and Reptile Species Fire Management and of the Southwest Vegetation Restoration ........................................ B. Developing a Management Plan ..................... Timber and Vegetation Management .................. ........................................................................ Energy Development ........................................... C. Non-native, Invasive Species of Mining, Oil, and Gas ............................................ Concern to Amphibians and Reptiles International Border Security ............................... of the Southwest ............................................. Exploitation .......................................................... D. Disinfection Guidelines for Individuals Subsidized Predators .......................................... Working in Freshwater Habitats ...................... Non-native and Invasive Species ........................ E. Southwest PARC Priority Species .................. (2012 list) Disease ................................................................ F. References and Resources ............................. Climate Change ................................................... G. Conservation Programs and Options ............. The Basics: General Management Guidelines .......... Acknowledgments .......................................... across Habitat Types ................................................. Management Guidelines for Specific Habitat Types ............................................................. Desert Scrublands ............................................... Desert Woodlands ............................................... Dunes ................................................................... Grasslands ........................................................... Shrub and Shrub Steppe ..................................... Coastal Sage Scrub and Chaparral ..................... Thornscrub ........................................................... Bosques and Gallery Forests .............................. Deciduous and Mixed Woodlands ...................... Juniper and Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands ............. Evergreen Woodlands ......................................... HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES v SIDEBARS SIDEBARS What is Southwest Partners in Amphibian Trade of Southwestern Amphibians and Reptile Conservation ........................................... and Reptiles ............................................................... What is the Amphibian and Reptile Rattlesnake Festivals ................................................. Conservancy? ............................................................ The North American Monsoon ................................... Amphibians and Reptiles Need Love, Too ................ Landscape Conservation Cooperatives ..................... Adaptive Management ............................................... Habitats within Habitats ............................................. Taxonomy and Nomenclature .................................... Creosote Bush: Pillar of the American Survey, Inventory, and Monitoring ............................. “Hot” Deserts ............................................................. Safety First! ................................................................ Those Amazing Sand Dune Specialists! .................... Nuisance Reptiles/Relocating .................................... Apachean Ecoregion: Hotbed of Biodiversity ............ Venomous Reptiles .................................................... Disease: Contributor to Amphibian Decline ............... What to do in Case of Snakebite ............................... Hibernacula ................................................................ Habitats and Landscapes .......................................... Those Amazing Cave Salamanders! .......................... Don’t Look Up—Look Down! ..................................... Habitat Models to Guide Management ..................... Herpetology ................................................................ Decisions: A Case Study with Midget All-female Whiptails: Weeds of the Faded Rattlesnake ..................................................... Lizard World? ............................................................. Head-starting and Translocation the Construction Activities ............................................... Relict Leopard Frog ................................................... Southwest PARC’s Flat-tailed Horned Wetland Loss in the Southwest ................................. Lizard Biomonitor Training ......................................... Conservation Advances: Kemp’s Ridley Lizard in a Battleground: The Case of the Sea Turtle ................................................................... Dunes Sagebrush Lizard ............................................ Backyard Natives Habitat .......................................... vi WWW.PARCPLACE.ORG HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES PREFACE Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and nated public/private partnerships.” The emphasis is on Reptiles of the Southwestern United States is a produc- partnerships, as we seek to work with everyone to find tion of Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation solutions to common issues. PARC is not a funding (PARC). PARC’s mission is “to conserve amphibians, or government agency. It does not create or dictate reptiles, and their habitats as integral parts of our policy, and it is non-regulatory. Rather, PARC provides ecosystem and culture through proactive and coordi- guidelines based on sound science. PARC’s objective Each Habitat Management Guide covers several ecoregional provinces (see page 14). Striped areas represent overlap between adjacent Guidelines. HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES vii PREFACE s e n o J C. L. e c n e wr a L Portrait of a male Eastern Collared Lizard is to increase communication and cooperation among Development of the PARC Habitat Management many diverse groups who have a common interest in Guidelines (HMGs) began shortly following the orga- amphibians, reptiles, and their habitats. PARC pro- nization of PARC in 1999. The initial PARC Habitat vides ideas for individuals, agencies, companies, and Management Technical Working Group consisted of organizations to help conserve and manage habitats Kurt Buhlmann, Erin Clark, Robert Fisher, Whit Gib- occupied by amphibians and reptiles. The diversity of bons, Randy Gray, John Jensen, Bruce Kingsbury, the partners makes PARC the most comprehensive con- late Laura Mazanti, Joe Mitchell, Earl Possardt, Klaus servation effort ever undertaken for amphibians and Richter, and Monica Schwalbach. This group concep- reptiles. At the core of PARC is the philosophy that we tualized the need for HMGs as PARC products and all must work together. There is no “us versus them.” It agreed that at least five regional documents would be is all “us.” To learn more about PARC, please visit our needed for the United States, including the Midwest, website at http://www.parcplace.org. Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, and Northwest. The Technical Working Group, chaired by Monica Schwal- This book is part of a five-volume series covering the bach, organized a workshop in Chicago that was contiguous United States and parts of Canada. Each held in February 2001. At that meeting, 85 individuals volume covers a regional geographic area largely representing the five regions worked for three days on based on ecoregions, but also state boundaries. The concepts, habitats, and early drafts of the documents Southwest volume was written with the intent of even- for each region. Subsequently, the Midwest HMG was tually making it available to the public as modules via the first to be published in 2002, followed by the North- the PARC website. As such, some redundancy among east and Southeast HMGs in 2006, and Northwest sections was required to ensure that key points were HMG in 2008. Habitat Management Guidelines for the captured for those that may not read the document in Southwest is the fifth in the series. its entirety. viii WWW.PARCPLACE.ORG HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES This document is the product of extensive efforts made by many people and contains the contributions of indi- viduals from diverse backgrounds including academic, private, government, and industrial. An unpublished version, the “Arid Lands HMG” was produced in 2004. It was a product of a development team that included M. Goode, L. Woods, J. Mac Aller, J. Smeltzer, R. Averill-Murray, P. Rosen, C. Schwalbe, and T. Hare. This current version is a follow-up as an official HMG for the Southwest PARC Region. Lead technical coor- dinators and editors for these guidelines are Lawrence dl L. C. Jones, a biologist from Tucson, Arizona; Kenneth Sre J. Halama, a biologist with the University of California ke Mi Natural Reserve System; and Robert E. Lovich, a her- petologist in San Diego, California. For consistency among sections common to other HMGs, part of this document was modified from previous HMGs. This HMG was completed as an edited version, with many contributors adding to the content. Authors of sections written by invited contributors are acknowledged in the sections. The Acknowledgments section lists others a who have helped with text, photographs, and other ni or aspects needed for the production of the HMG. Con- alif tributors of photographs retain copyright ownership of of C their images, except as noted. y sit er v ni U n o s n ki At m Ji Editors of the Southwest Habitat Management Guidelines (top to bottom): Larry Jones, Ken Halama, and Rob Lovich HABITAT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES ix